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Reuters
Alexanda Kotey (left) and El Shafee Elsheikh were captured by Syrian Kurdish forces
Two former British suspects of the Islamic State (IS) have been charged in the United States with terrorist offenses for the murder of four American hostages.
Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh are accused of belonging to an IS cell dubbed “The Beatles” involved in kidnappings in Iraq and Syria.
The couple are in FBI custody and will later appear in US federal court in Virginia.
The men, who were previously in US military custody in Iraq, deny the charges.
Assistant US Attorney General John Demers said the charges were “the result of many years of hard work seeking justice” for the four Americans who died: James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig.
He added: “These men will now be brought before a United States court to face justice for the depraved acts alleged against them in the indictment.”
The charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Apparently they were members of an IS gang responsible for the deaths of hostages in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
The victims, who included American journalists and aid workers from the United Kingdom and the United States, were beheaded and their deaths filmed and broadcast on social media.
Kotey and Elsheikh were part of the IS cell nicknamed by the hostages after the 1960s pop group because of their British accent.
Another member, Mohammed Emwazi, known as “Jihadi John” was killed in a drone attack in 2016.
The men, from West London, were previously stripped of their British nationality.
The United States sought the UK’s help in the case, but until recently a legal fight over the use of the death penalty hampered cooperation.
Last month, the United States made it clear that Kotey and Elsheikh would not be executed if found guilty.
Step towards closure
This is a breakthrough in this case.
These two Londoners were captured two years ago by Kurdish forces and handed over to US custody in Iraq, where they have been for the past 12 months.
They deny having tortured and killed hostages, but they are accused of that.
They will be taken to a United States court in Virginia, near Washington DC.
His appearance will be a step towards closure for the families of those who were killed, in some cases beheaded in videos on social media, in Iraq and Syria.
The Islamic State once controlled 88,000 square kilometers (34,000 square miles) of territory that stretched from western Syria to eastern Iraq and imposed its brutal rule on nearly eight million people.
The liberation of that territory revealed the magnitude of the abuses inflicted by the jihadist group, including summary killings, torture, amputations, ethno-sectarian attacks, rape and sexual slavery imposed on women and girls. Hundreds of mass graves have been discovered containing the remains of thousands of people.
UN investigators have concluded that IS militants committed acts that may constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
