FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress today that the FBI is “not giving up” on bringing two British-raised ISIS terrorists, known colloquially as “The Beatles,” to the U.S. for prosecution.
El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, who are currently being held prisoner in Syria by the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces, were part of an ISIS terrorist cell believed to be responsible for the beheadings of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, American humanitarian aid worker Peter Kassig, British humanitarian aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, and numerous other hostages.
Wray assured the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that the FBI’s goal is “to ensure that these folks can be brought to justice.” A complicating factor is that Elsheikh (known as “George”) and Kotey (known as “Ringo”), both captured in January 2018, were formerly British citizens, and so British courts must first OK their transfer to the U.S. custody.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Wray that he “wanted to make sure these people do not break out and are brought to justice.” And he asked Wray if he “could give this committee a status on those cases and what the plan is in terms of bringing them to justice.”
Wray said that there wasn’t much that he could say in an open hearing, but he did say that “this is a very important case to us and to me personally.” And Wray said that he “actually met with a number of the family members of some of the victims.”
“If there’s one thing the FBI is known for, it’s not giving up,” Wray said.
Part of the U.K.’s concern with handing Elsheikh and Kotey over to the U.S. is the fear that they might end up at Guantanamo Bay prison or might face the death penalty, which the U.K. has abolished.
In U.K. High Court proceedings in January 2019, it was revealed that the British seemed to be dropping many of their objections to allowing the U.S. to prosecute Elsheikh and Kotey.
The two other members of “The Beatles” were Mohammed Emwazi (known as “Jihadi John”) and Aine Lesly Davis (known as “Paul”). Emwazi was already killed in a drone strike in 2015, and Davis was convicted and imprisoned in Turkey in 2017.
