Trial of an alleged Islamic State terrorist who was member of a group that beheaded US hostages in Iraq and Syria began on Tuesday in the US. The group was known as “The Beatles” for their British accent.
El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, will stand trial in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside Washington, on charges including lethal hostage-taking and conspiracy to commit murder.
Elsheikh was one of four ISIS militants belonging to the four-member Islamic State cell. The cell garnered international attention after releasing videos of the murders of US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig, among other victims.
Two of the cell’s four members, Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, were held in Iraq by the US military before being flown to the United States to face trial.
Mohammed Emwazi, a British citizen who oversaw the executions, died in a drone strike in 2015. Aine Lesley Davis, the fourth member of the group, was convicted in Turkey on terrorism charges and jailed.
Kotey pleaded guilty in September 2021 to the murders of Foley, Sotloff, Mueller and Kassig. He will be sentenced next month.
Kotey was a citizen of the United Kingdom, but the British government withdrew his citizenship.
The charges against Elsheikh, a UK citizen, carry a potential death sentence, but US prosecutors have advised British officials that they will not seek the death penalty against Elsheikh or Kotey.
US District Judge TS Ellis will oversee the trial, and is expected to spend Tuesday questioning potential jurors to ensure a fair trial.
Elsheikh’s lawyers have said the killings were planned and carried out by Emwazi at the behest of Islamic State leadership.
(With inputs from agencies)
