Plea to UK to help put ‘Beatles’ militants on trial

THE MOTHER of a journalist who was killed by kidnappers has called on the Home Secretary to work with the United States to bring two alleged so-called Islamic State militants, part of a group dubbed The Beatles, to trial.

The US has told Britain it will not insist on the death penalty for Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, who are suspected of beheading Western hostages.

It could open the way for Britain to cooperate with the US in the sharing of information for any potential case against the pair, who are in US custody.

The decision was revealed in a letter to Home Secretary Priti Patel from US attorney general William Barr, and it is understood the move is seen as a welcome development by the Home Office.

Elsheikh and Kotey, who were caught in January 2018, are accused of belonging to a brutal four-man cell of executioners in Syria, nicknamed The Beatles because of their British accents, responsible for killing 27 captives.

Other members of the cell are said to include Mohammed Emwazi, the group’s ringleader, also known as Jihadi John, who was killed in a US air strike in 2015, while Aine Davis is in jail in Turkey for terror offences.

Emwazi appeared in a number of videos in which hostages, including British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning and US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, were killed.

The mother of Mr Foley has called on the Home Secretary to work with the US going forward.

Diane Foley told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We really implore the Home Secretary to consider this new decision and work together with the United States to bring these men to trial.”