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Timeline: Mohammed Emwazi's life

Katharine Lackey, and Donna Leinwand Leger
USAToday
A British-accented militant who has appeared in beheading videos released by the Islamic State group in Syria over the past few months bears "striking similarities" to a man who grew up in London, a Muslim lobbying group said Feb. 26, 2015. Mohammed Emwazi has been identified by news organizations as the masked militant more commonly known as "Jihadi John."

A human rights group released a case file Thursday on Mohammed Emwazi, 26, who was identified as the Islamic State militant known as "Jihadi John" by the BBC and The Washington Post.

CAGE, a group that assists people who claim they are being targeted by security services, said Emwazi was harassed by security agencies for at least four years.

Here's a look at what we know about Emwazi's life:

1988: Born in Kuwait. Family moves to United Kingdom when he is 6, and he grows up in a west London neighborhood.

2009: Graduates from University of Westminister in London, degree in computer programming, the Post reported.

Summer 2009: Emwazi tries to go on safari with friends in Tanzania. Authorities there detain him, stripping him to his underwear and placing him in a cell for 24 hours without food or water.

He is put on a flight to Amsterdam, where Dutch and British intelligence security officials interrogate him about whether he intended to go to Somalia. Once allowed to leave, he travels back to the United Kingdom, where he is again questioned.

September 2009: Family sends Emwazi to live in Kuwait over fears of harassment by authorities. While there, he works for a computer programming company.

May to July 2010: Returns to London for a visit and is questioned at Heathrow airport by passport officials, who later let him go. He files complaints with London security officials.

He returns to Kuwait, where he makes plans to marry. He then travels back to London, but when he tries to return to Kuwait, he is not allowed to check in. Instead, he's interrogated for six hours. After trying to return to Kuwait a day later, he is denied boarding and learns his visa has been refused. He loses his job in Kuwait, and his fiancée calls off their engagement.

In an e-mail exchange between CAGE's Asim Qureshi and Emwazi in June and July 2010, Emwazi expresses frustration that he cannot clear his name. Between the end of July 2010 and January 2011, he sends CAGE at least four e-mails pointing out injustices toward and oppression of Muslims worldwide.

Between late 2010 and early 2013: Earns a certificate for teaching English to speakers of other languages, but is rejected when he interviews with English-language centers in Saudi Arabia.

Early 2013: Emwazi changes his name to Mohammed al-Ayan at his father's suggestion. He again tries to go to Kuwait but is barred from traveling and is questioned by security officials.

A week later he disappears, and his parents report him as a missing person. Emwazi eventually gets in touch with his family, telling them he is helping refugees in Turkey. Several months later, police tell the family their son has entered Syria.

August 2014: Begins to appear in Islamic State videos that show the beheadings of several Americans and Britons.

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