/ Americas
Issued on: 14/04/2022 – 20:12Modified: 14/04/2022 – 20:20
El Shafee Elsheikh, a member of a group of Islamic State group militants who beheaded American hostages in Iraq and Syria, and were nicknamed “The Beatles” for their English accents, at his trial in US federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, April 1, 2022. Bill Hennessy via Reuters – BILL HENNESSY
A member of a group of Islamic State militants who beheaded American hostages in Iraq and Syria, and were nicknamed “The Beatles” for their British accents, was found guilty of terrorism offenses in a U.S. court on Thursday.
A jury found El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, guilty on all counts following a trial in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside Washington, on charges including lethal hostage-taking and conspiracy to commit murder.
The charges against Elsheikh, a former UK citizen, carry a potential death sentence, but U.S. prosecutors have advised British officials that they will not seek the death penalty.
Elsheikh was one of four militants belonging to the four-member Islamic State cell. The cell garnered international attention after releasing videos of the murders of U.S. journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig, among other victims.
