Two ISIS fighters known as one half of the ‘Beatles’ terror group have been indicted on eight charges, including conspiracy to murder and hostage taking resulting in death, in connection with the killing of four US hostages in Syria and Iraq.
Alexanda Kotey, 36, and El Shafee Elsheikh, 32, are expected to make their first federal court appearance this afternoon in Alexandria, Virginia, after they’ve arrived in the US.
They are currently being transported from Iraq where they have been in US custody since 2019.
They are accused by the State Department of murdering two dozen hostages including Americans James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller, and at least eight other hostages from different countries, including the UK.
Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh have been indicted on eight charges connected to the deaths of four US citizens, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday
The indictment was announced Wednesday by Assistant AG for National Security John C. Demers. He confirmed that Kotey and Elsheikh would appear in court that afternoon. They are currently being transported from Iraq where they have been in US custody since 2019
The charges were welcomed by Attorney General Bill Barr who said it acted as a warning to other terrorists around the world.
‘If you harm Americans, you will face American arms on the battlefield or American law in our courtrooms,’ he said.
‘Either way, you will be pursued to the ends of the earth until justice is done.’
The indictment was announced Wednesday morning by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers as he confirmed that Kotey and Elsheikh would appear in court that afternoon.
‘Today is a good day, but it is also a solemn day,’ he said.
Remembering the four American victims, he said ‘we are here today because of them’.
‘Many around the world are familiar with the barbaric circumstances of their tragic deaths. But these precious souls will not be remembered for their deaths. They will be remembered for the good and decent lives they lived.’
The indictment was also welcomed by the victims families in a statement Wednesday morning.
‘Kotey and ElSheikh’s extradition and trial in the United States will be the first step in the pursuit of justice for the alleged horrific human rights crimes against these four young Americans, who saw the suffering of the Syrian people and wanted to help, whether by providing humanitarian aid or by telling the world about the evolving Syrian crisis,’ they said.
‘We are hopeful that the U.S. government will finally be able to send the important message that if you harm Americans, you will never escape justice. And when you are caught, you will face the full power of American law.’
The accused claim they took part in torturing them and extracting information but that they did not take part in their executions.
The pair are both British but renounced their citizenship when they joined ISIS in Syria in 2014.
Foley and Sotloff were journalists working in the region and Kassig and Mueller were aid workers.
James Foley and Steven Sotloff were both working as journalists in Syria when they were captured and killed by Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh
The two men admitted that they helped collect email addresses from Kayla Mueller (pictured left) that could be used to send out ransom demands. She was killed in 2015 after 18 months in ISIS captivity. Peter Kassig (pictured right) was also kille
In interviews while in detention, the two men admitted that they helped collect email addresses from Mueller that could be used to send out ransom demands. She was killed in 2015 after 18 months in ISIS captivity.
The State Department, however, has said that Elsheikh and Kotey played a much more active role and it 2017, declared the pair specially designated global terrorists.
Specifically, the agency said Elsheikh ‘was said to have earned a reputation for waterboarding, mock executions, and crucifixions while serving as an ISIS jailer’.
Kotey, according to the State Department, acted as an Islamic State recruiter and ‘likely engaged in the group´s executions and exceptionally cruel torture methods, including electronic shock and waterboarding’.
Mohamed Emwazi, aka Jihadi John, was the most prolific of the Beatles. He was killed in a US drone strike in 2016
The expected court appearance Wednesday is a milestone in a years-long effort by US authorities to bring to justice members of a militant group known for beheadings and barbaric treatment of American aid workers, journalists and other hostages in Syria.
Their arrival in the U.S. to face charges sets the stage for arguably the most sensational terrorism prosecution since the 2014 case against the suspected ringleader of a deadly attack on the diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.
Elsheikh and Kotey have been held in US military custody in Iraq since October 2019, but the families of their American victims have long pleaded for them to be brought onto US soil to stand trial.
British authorities were reluctant.
They agreed to hand over evidence to the US that would help with a prosecution which was delivered two weeks ago.
AG Bill Barr has also agreed not to impose a death sentence on either man with the agreement of their victims’s families, who said they rather learn the truth of what happened to their loved ones through a trial.
Neither of the men has been charged yet but charges may include conspiracy to commit murder, hostage-taking resulting in death, kidnapping resulting in death and homicide, according to Justice Department sources cited by The Washington Post on Tuesday.
Their trial is expected to take place in the federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.
The most prominent member of the ISIS Beatles was Mohammed Emwazi, the hooded executioner known as Jihadi John who was filmed slicing the necks of some of the victims in sickening videos that terrified the world in 2014 when ISIS spread them.
He was killed in a US drone strike in 2016. The fourth member is Aine Davis. He is being held in a Turkish prison on terror charges.