Defence chief wants U.K. to bar extremists’ return

LONDON — Britain’s defence secretary says two captured Islamic State group extremists who grew up in England should never be allowed to return.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson’s comments Saturday in the Sun newspaper come amid reports that Britain has already stripped El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Amon Kotey of their citizenship, opening the door for them to be sent to Guantanamo Bay or another prison outside of the U.K.

“I don’t think they should ever set foot in this country again,” Williamson told the newspaper. “They turned their back on Britain, our values and everything we stand for — they are the worst of the worst.”

Elsheikh and Kotey are alleged to have been part of the four-man IS cell dubbed “The Beatles” because of their British accents.

The most notorious member of the group was Mohammed Emwazi, known as Jihadi John who appeared in several videos that showed the beheading of Western hostages.

The cell captured, tortured and killed more than two dozen hostages, including American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and American aid worker Peter Kassig.

Tobias Ellwood, a defence minister whose brother was killed in a 2002 terror attack in Bali, called for the men to be tried by an international war crimes court.

“Guantanamo Bay created a new combatant status that bypassed the Geneva Convention, used torture and failed to address a wider global jihadist insurgency,” he told the Times of London. “Given the scale of foreign fighters, we should consider an agreed international process involving The Hague, which ensures terrorists from any origin are transparently and fairly held to account for their actions.”

Britain’s Home Office refused to confirm whether Elsheikh and Kotey had been stripped of their citizenship.

The American-backed Syrian Democratic Forces captured the two men last month.

Foley’s father, John Foley, hopes the IS fighters will be put on trial.

“The death penalty would make them martyrs, which is what they would want, so I would prefer that they spend the rest of their lives in jail,” Foley said.