Islamic State ‘Beatle’ convicted in US of beheading hostages

El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, was part of a terrorist cell that got its nickname for the member’s British accents

Victims included American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid worker Peter Kassig, whose killings were videotaped

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Captured Islamic State fighter El Shafee Elsheikh poses for a mugshot at an undisclosed location. Photo: Syrian Democratic Forces via AFP

Published: 3:37am, 15 Apr 2022

A US jury on Thursday convicted a former British citizen for his role in a notorious Islamic State hostage-taking plot that led to the beheading of American journalists and aid workers.

After a six-week trial and four hours of deliberations, a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, found El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, guilty on charges including lethal hostage-taking and conspiracy to commit murder.

In convicting Elsheikh, the jury concluded that he was part of an Islamic State terrorist cell, nicknamed “The Beatles” for their British accents, that beheaded American hostages in Iraq and Syria.

Some former hostages, released by the “Beatles” after protracted negotiations, testified during the trial about the torture they endured. Family members of the deceased victims also testified.

Carl Mueller, the father of Kayla Mueller, an American human rights activist slain by Islamic State militants, embraces Rodwan Safer Jalani, a friend of Kayla’s, outside the courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia on Thursday. Photo: AFP

The charges against Elsheikh, whose British citizenship was withdrawn in 2018, carry a potential death sentence, but US prosecutors have advised British officials that they will not seek the death penalty.

Elsheikh, who was born in Sudan and raised in London, was accused of conspiring to kill four American hostages: James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.