The U.S. military is taking control of two British men accused of participating in ISIS’s execution of several Western hostages, including Americans.
The men, Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, are part of a group of four British terrorists known as the “Beatles” by the men they captured while fighting for ISIS. Kurdish forces were holding Kotey and Elsheikh in northern Syria, but the prisoners were transferred to U.S. authorities under the impending threat of a Turkish invasion.
The other two members of their group included Mohammed Emwazi, or “Jihadi John,” who was killed 2015 in a drone strike, and Aine Lesley Davis, who was sentenced by a Turkish court to seven-and-a-half years in prison. The American hostages they killed include journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as aid worker Peter Kassig.
Thousands of captured ISIS combatants could be released if Turkey beats out the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in northern Syria. Turkey’s movement into the area was triggered by President Trump’s decision on Sunday to pull U.S. forces out of northern Syria.
The U.S. military wants to put Kotey and Elsheikh on trial in the United States, but a lawsuit filed in British courts by Elsheikh’s mother has stalled those plans. Elsheikh’s mother is suing the British government to keep Elsheikh in his home country and block British authorities from sharing evidence against her son with U.S. prosecutors.
Elsheikh’s mother is not trying to prove her son’s innocence. Instead, she wants Elsheikh to stand trial in Britain or, if not, secure a deal in which Elsheikh will not receive the death penalty in America.
