United States: an IS “Beatles” convicted of the death of American hostages in Syria

Published on: 04/14/2022 – 20:20 American justice convicted Thursday El Shafee el-Sheikh, a jihadist of the Islamic State organization, member of the “Beatles” cell, of having participated in the kidnapping and murder of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig in Syria. He was one of these faceless torturers of the Islamic State (IS) group: El Shafee el-Sheikh, was found guilty Thursday April 14 by a US court of having played a role in the kidnapping and death of four American hostages in Syria within the sinister “Beatles” cell. Accused of being a member of this trio, so nicknamed by the hostages because of their British accent, he was tried in Alexandria, near Washington, for his role in the capture and death of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig. His sentence will be pronounced later. He faces life imprisonment. 33-year-old El Shafee el-Sheikh chose to remain silent throughout this first major trial against the Islamist group in the United States, which lasted two weeks. Through the voice of his lawyer, he admitted to having joined the ranks of IS while denying being one of the “Beatles”. “Without compassion” with the hostagesFor the prosecution, El Shafee el-Sheikh was “Ringo” while some hostages seemed to think he was “George”. He was never actually identified as a member of the group by the ex-hostages called to the stand, who had always seen the members of this trio masked. But in 2018, he admitted in interviews with journalists that he had “interacted” “without compassion” with hostages placed under his supervision and those of two “friends” met in London, Mohammed Emwazi and Alexanda Kotey. It was with the latter that El Shafee el-Sheikh was arrested in 2018 by Kurdish forces in Syria. They had been transferred to the United States for trial but Alexanda Kotey chose to plead guilty and will be sentenced on April 29. The other member of the group, Mohammed Emwazi, was killed in a drone attack in 2015. Nicknamed “Jihadi John”, he was identified after appearing with a butcher’s knife in IS propaganda videos depicting the beheading of Western hostages. With AFP