El Shafee Elsheikh: London-raised ‘Beatle’ IS terror cell member to be sentenced in US

A member of the so-called “Beatles” Islamic State terror cell could be sentenced to life in prison on Friday in the US (Alamy/PA)
Benjamin Cooper19 August 2022
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A member of the so-called “Beatles” Islamic State terror cell could be sentenced to life in prison on Friday in the US.

El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, faces a possible life sentence after being found guilty of his role in a hostage-taking scheme which involved torturing, beating and executing prisoners.

The jihadist, who grew up in London, is accused of being one of a gang of four IS militants nicknamed “the Beatles” by their captives due to their British accents.

The cell, said to be made up of ringleader Mohammed Emwazi, known as Jihadi John, Aine Davis, Alexanda Kotey and Elsheikh, was allegedly responsible for the brutal killings of several Western and Japanese captives, including Britons Alan Henning and David Haines.

Elsheikh was in April convicted of eight counts relating to four American hostages, James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig, and Kayla Mueller, after a trial at the US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.

The three American men that Elsheikh was charged in connection with were executed in videotaped beheadings broadcast online.

Ms Mueller was enslaved and raped multiple times by Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before she was killed.

Aine Davis appeared in the dock at Westminster Magistrates’ Court last week following his deportation from Turkey (Elizabeth Cook/PA)
PA Wire

The four were said to have been among 26 hostages taken between 2012 and 2015, when the Islamic State group dominated large areas in Iraq and Syria.

Elsheikh was captured alongside Kotey in Syria in 2018 by the US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces while trying to escape to Turkey.

Last year, Kotey pleaded guilty to eight counts relating to his involvement, while Davis was jailed in Turkey before being deported to the UK last week and Emwazi was killed in a drone strike.

Kotey was jailed in the US in April.

The Metropolitan Police said this week the four men were identified because Kotey and Elsheikh were arrested at an English Defence League (EDL) counter-protest in London in September 2011.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in