US hits ‘Beatles’ cell member, 6 more with terror sanctions

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States imposed sanctions on Thursday on seven people for allegedly supporting the Islamic State (IS) group or al-Qaeda, including a member of the IS cell dubbed “The Beatles.”

The sanctions also targeted a diverse array of individuals from Asia, Europe and New Zealand that the US accuses of being terrorists.

The State Department declared El Shafee Elsheikh, one of the notorious Britishsounding captors accused of executing hostages, to be a global terrorist.

The US said Elsheikh traveled to Syria in 2012 and first joined al-Qaeda’s branch there, and then later joined IS, beheading more than 27 hostages and torturing others.

The designations freeze any assets that Elsheikh and others targeted may have in the US and bars Americans from doing business with them.

The US also targeted Anjem Choudary, one of Britain’s best-known radical Islamic preachers, who was sentenced last year to five years in prison for encouraging IS. For years, he ran groups in the UK under the names al-Muhajiroun, Islam4UK and Muslims Against Crusades. Several people who attended his rallies or events have been convicted of violent attacks.

The US State Department said Choudary has vowed to continue recruiting extremists while in prison.

The latest round of targets indicated the US is attempting to pursue IS followers who have sought to spread the extremist ideology in Southeast Asia and other areas far from Iraq and Syria.

Muhammad Bahrun Naim Anggih Tamtomo, an Indonesian national, was targeted for allegedly helping associates in Indonesia plan attacks.

And the US said Muhammad Wanndy Bin Mohamed Jedi of Malaysia had ordered an IS cell in Malaysia to carry out multiple attacks there.

The US said Wanndy is based in Syria and Iraq, and Naim in Syria.