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Reuters
Alexanda Kotey (left) and El Shafee Elsheikh were taken prisoner by Syrian Kurdish troops
The US has told the United Kingdom that two Islamic State suspects will not face the death penalty if convicted of killing Western hostages in Iraq and Syria.
Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh are accused of being the last two members of an IS cell called “The Beatles” because of their UK accents.
The US sought redress from the UK in the case, but a legal battle over the use of the death penalty has encouraged co-operation.
The US has now made it clear that the two will not be executed if found guilty.
In a letter to Secretary of State Priti Patel, U.S. Attorney General William Barr said the U.S. authorities would not impose the death penalty on the two men and “if imposed, it will not be carried out.”
In light of the assurances, he said he hoped the UK would share “important evidence” about the men directly.
“Once we receive the requested evidence and related cooperation from the United Kingdom, we intend to continue with a United States prosecution,” he wrote.
“Indeed, it is these unique circumstances that lead me to offer the guarantee in this letter.”
A Home Office spokesman said the UK was “continuing to work closely with international partners to ensure that those who have committed crimes in the name of Daesh are brought to justice”.
The couple, who are in U.S. military custody in Iraq, were British citizens but had been abducted from their UK nationality.
They are accused of being members of an IS kidnapping gang behind the killings of a number of Western hostages, including American journalists and British aid workers, in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
The victims were beheaded and their deaths were filmed and posted on social media.
The UK believes that men cannot be extradited legally to the UK, but in 2018 it emerged that the US was preparing the ground to prosecute the men – and that it had asked the UK for information that would would help to condemn.
In response, ministers said they would share intelligence without facing a death sentence.
But cooperation with the US was halted after El Shafee Elsheikh’s mother launched a legal challenge, arguing that the UK’s position was in breach of its internationally recognized opposition to capital punishment.
Legal battle
In the past, Britain has sought assurances from foreign governments that the death penalty would not be used in cases where the United Kingdom provided information or issued suspicions.
The Supreme Court has ruled that the US Government’s request to use crucial evidence from the UK in the case was illegal.
At the time, the UK said it was “taking a long-term position” to oppose the death penalty, but added that in this case it was “a priority to ensure these men are prosecuted”.
However, the UK has made it clear that if the pair were sent to the controversial US military prison Guantanamo Bay – where suspects are being held without trial – the UK would keep intelligence.
The BBC’s security correspondent Frank Gardner said the US was warning that if the matter was not resolved by mid-October, the two men would be handed over to the Iraqi government.
Several relatives of the murdered Western hostages have said they want the men to have a fair trial, instead of the death penalty.
