ALEXANDRIA, US: A member of the notorious IS kidnap-and-murder cell known as the “Beatles” was sentenced to life in prison by a US court on Friday for the deaths of four American hostages in Syria.
El Shafee Elsheikh, 34, was given eight concurrent life sentences with no possibility of parole after being convicted in April of hostage-taking, conspiracy to murder US citizens and supporting a terrorist organisation.
Judge T S Ellis, handing down the sentence in a US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, said Elsheikh’s conduct “can only be described as horrific, barbaric, brutal, callous and, of course, criminal.”
Elsheikh, wearing large glasses, a black Covid face mask and a dark green prison jumpsuit with “Alexandria Inmate” on the back, did not visibly react and declined an opportunity to speak to the court.
The trial of the former British national, which featured emotional testimony from former hostages and parents of the murdered Americans, was the most significant prosecution of an IS militant in the United States.
Diane Foley, mother of murdered hostage James Foley, addressed Elsheikh and the court and noted on Friday was the eighth anniversary of her son’s “gruesome beheading.”
“You have been held accountable for your depravity,” Foley told Elsheikh. “You have lost your country, your citizenship, your freedom and your family.
“Love is much stronger than hatred,” she added. “I pity you, Elsheikh, for choosing hatred.”
The jury deliberated for less than six hours at the end of a two-week trial before finding Elsheikh guilty for his role in the deaths of four Americans — journalists Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.
Elsheikh and another former “Beatle,” Alexanda Kotey, were captured by a Kurdish militia in Syria in January 2018 and handed over to US forces in Iraq.
They were flown to the United States in 2020 to face trial.
Kotey, 38, pleaded guilty in September 2021 and was sentenced to life in prison in April.
Another alleged “Beatle,” Aine Davis, 38, has been deported to Britain from Turkey and remanded in custody on terrorism charges.
The fourth in the group, executioner Mohammed Emwazi, was killed by a US drone in Syria in November 2015.
The hostage-takers, who grew up and were radicalised in London, were nicknamed the “Beatles” by their captives because of their distinctive British accents. – AFP
