British jihadis who beheaded my father ‘should not be breathing’
THE daughter of murdered British hostage David Haines yesterday demanded tough sentences for his captured jihadi killers, insisting: “They shouldn’t be breathing.”
Bethany Haines, 20, spoke out after learning Islamic State thugs Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh had been arrested fleeing Syria.
The pair were allegedly part of a four-strong British IS cell dubbed The Beatles said to be responsible for the kidnap, torture and beheading of 30 Western hostages.
Along with Londoner Jihadi John, they are thought to be behind the 2014 beheading of aid worker Mr Haines, 44.
Miss Haines, of Perth, Scotland, said she was relieved to find out Kotey, 34, and Elsheikh, 29, also from London, will “serve some justice”.
She said on ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “In my opinion, they shouldn’t be breathing but that’s not a realistic kind of expectation. I think that they should be locked up with the key thrown away.”
Diane Foley, mother of murdered US journalist James Foley, said: “I would like them to be brought to trial in the US but as long as they are brought to fair trial and detained and justice is served I would be most grateful.”
A freed hostage, French journalist Nicolas Henin, added: “For most of the former hostages and the relatives of those who have been killed, it is a satisfaction to know these people are not free any more.”
Jihadi John – real name Mohammed Emwazi – was the highest-profile member of The Beatles gang, so called as there were four and all had British accents. He died in a 2015 US drone strike.
Fourth “Beatle” Aine Davies was seized by Turkish troops, tried for terror offences and jailed for seven years. US intelligence officials say Kotey and Elsheikh were held by Kurdish-led forces near the Syrian border and no decision about how to deal with them had been made.
They are reported to have been stripped of their British citizenship although that has not been confirmed by the Home Office.
Sources said it was “very unlikely” any attempt will be made to bring the pair to the UK to stand trial for their alleged part in the deaths of British hostages.