Final two Isil ‘Beatles’ caught
THE two surviving members of Isil’s notorious British terror cell known as “the Beatles” have been captured by Syrian Kurdish fighters, according to American officials.
Alexanda Kotey, 34, and El Shafee Elsheikh, 29, were picked up as local forces fought running battles with Isil militants close to the border with Iraq, officials told The Daily Telegraph.
Mohammed Emwazi, the gang’s leader known as “Jihadi John”, was killed in a 2015 air strike. He appeared in a series of propaganda videos and was filmed beheading British and American hostages. Aine Davis, a fourth member, is serving a seven-year jail term in Turkey. The four men from west London, who were given their nickname by their hostages because of their British accents, were linked to a string of murders in Iraq and Syria.
Bethany Haines, whose father David Haines was beheaded by Emwazi in 2014, last night welcomed the capture
of Kotey and Elsheikh. She told ITV News: “It’s brilliant that these evil people have been caught. The families will now have people to hold account for their loved ones’ deaths.”
The Telegraph reported last year that the two missing men were on a US “kill list” reserved for senior Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists.
Unnamed American officials, quoted in The New York Times last night, said the pair were picked up by the Syrian Democratic Forces as they fought remaining pockets of Isil fighters near the Euphrates. American officials were reportedly told last month that the militia believed they may have captured the wanted men, who were then made available to US special forces. They could face prosecution in the US, where terrorism laws can be applied to offences committed anywhere in the world.
Elsheikh arrived in Britain as a child when his communist-supporting parents fled Sudan. He was five when his family claimed asylum. His identity was revealed two years ago when British intelligence officials said they believed the former fairground mechanic from White City was part of the cell.
In January last year US authorities confirmed Kotey was a member of the cell and imposed sanctions on him. The US State Department said he was believed to be “engaged in the group’s executions and exceptionally cruel torture methods”. It added he also acted as a recruiter for Isil.
The half-ghanaian, half-greek Cypriot came from a family of dress cutters in Shepherd’s Bush and is believed to have converted to Islam in his 20s. Kotey was connected to the “London Boys”, an extremist network linked to the 7/7 London bombings and the failed 21/7 plot.
The Ministry of Defence did not respond to requests for confirmation.