ISIS 'Beatles' from Shepherd's Bush Could Face Death Penalty in America
Home Secretary says he will not seek an assurance that they will not be executed
Alexanda Kotey (left) and El Shafee Elsheikh (right)
Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, who grew up in Shepherd’s Bush and went on to become killers with Islamic State, could face the death penalty in America.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid has said in a letter to the US attorney general that the UK will seek no assurances that the pair will not be executed.
The pair, who are accused of being the last two members of a notoriously violent terrorist cell nicknamed 'The Beatles' because of their British accents, were captured in Syria in January.
A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Theresa May said: "The decision was taken by the home secretary and the former foreign secretary following the advice of lawyers and officials. The PM was made aware of the decision."
In the letter to Jeff Sessions, dated 22 June 2018, Mr Javid wrote that the UK would not seek "assurances" over the death penalty in this particular case, but said it did not mark a change in UK policy.
"I am of the view that there are strong reasons for not requiring a death penalty assurance in this specific case, so no such assurances will be sought," he said.
But the former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Lord Carlile, described the letter as "extraordinary".
"We do not extradite people to countries where there is a death penalty unless there is an assurance the death penalty will not be carried out," he told the BBC."This a unilateral change of policy without any consultation and I would be amazed if this had been approved explicitly by the prime minister."
Shami Chakrabarti, Labour's shadow attorney general, said Mr Javid had "secretly and unilaterally abandoned Britain's opposition to the death penalty" and appeared to be encouraging "this grave human rights abuse".
Diane Foley - whose son James, an American journalist, was beheaded by the IS cell in Syria in 2014 - told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that she was "very against" the death penalty for the pair.
"I think that will just make them martyrs in their twisted ideology," she said."I would like them held accountable by sending them to prison for the rest of their lives."
And Amnesty International called Mr Javid's decision a "deeply worrying development".
Kotey and Elsheikh were members of the IS cell with two others from west London - Mohammed Emwazi, nicknamed "Jihadi John", and Aine Davis.
The group were radicalised in the UK before travelling to Syria, where they became infamous for their executions of Western hostages.
Emwazi, who was the alleged ringleader and appeared in videos showing hostages being beheaded, was killed by a drone strike in 2015. Davis was convicted of being a senior IS member and was jailed in Turkey last year.
Kotey, 34 and Elsheikh, 29, were captured by members of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
According to US officials the group was responsible for the beheading of at least 27 hostages and the torture of many more.
US state department officials told the New York Times that Kotey took part in the torture of hostages and El Shafee Elsheikh was responsible for guarding prisoners and subjected them to waterboarding and mock executions.
El Shafee Elsheikh was born in the Sudan but grew up in White City and supported QPR. At one point he preached from a stall outside Shepherd's Bush Tube Station. He studied engineering at Acton College then worked as a mechanic and on the funfair when it visited Shepherd's Bush Green. His youngest brother Mahmoud also joined IS as and was killed in Tikrit, Iraq, in April 2015.
His father, Rashid Sidahmed ElSheikh, a translator, told the Guardian his son had travelled to Syria to fight for jihadists at the start of 2012. He described his son’s radicalisation as "lightning fast". His mother, Maha Elgizouli, told The Washington Post, that his radicalization was extremely fast after he began following the preaching of a West London imam, Hani al-Sibai.
" My kids were perfect, and one day it suddenly happened," she said. She approached al-Sibai and slapped him, asking: "What have you done to my son?"
She said she had no idea that her son was a member of the ISIS 'Beatles' and added, " That boy now is not my son. That is not the son I raised."
Alexanda Kotey, has been described as the terror cell’s leader. Known as Alexe, he was described by neighbours in West London as a quiet man who was a dedicated QPR fan. Kotey, who has two children still living in London, is also believed to have been connected to the 'London Boys' a network of extremists who played five-a-side football in west London and who have been linked to the 7/7 London bombings and the subsequent failed 21/7 plot.
In April it was revealed that he is also suspected of helping to organise the terror plot in 2014 which aimed to murder soldiers and police officers in Shepherd's Bush.
Both of the men Christians who became Muslim converts aftter meeting Emwazi at the Al-Manaar mosque in Ladbroke Grove, where their extremist views led to them being marginalised.
July 23, 2018