Terrorist ‘Beatle’ El Shafee Elsheikh to serve life in prison
An ISIS monster who was a ringleader in the beheading of a U.S. journalist and three other people was sentenced Friday to life in prison by a Virginia federal judge.
Islamic State terrorist El Shafee Elsheikh, 34, was part of a plot that led to the abduction of 26 hostages between 2012 and 2015 in ISIS-controlled territories in Iraq and Syria. He was tried in federal court for charges related to the beheadings of four of the captives.
Elsheikh, a former British citizen, was a senior leader to a group of bloodthirsty captors whose British accents led ISIS followers to nickname them the Beatles, after the iconic 1960s British band that sang “All You Need is Love.”
El Shafee Elsheikh
Prosecutors described Elsheikh and his brethren — who more masks when dealing with their captives — as “utterly terrifying” at the start of their trial in late March.
“This prosecution unmasked the vicious and sadistic ISIS Beatles,” U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh said after Elsheikh’s sentencing in an Alexandria, Va. federal courtroom.
In this May 27, 2011 photo, American journalist James Foley poses for a photo in Boston. (Steven Senne/)
Elsheikh, 34, had already been convicted in connection to the execution of four American captives, including James Foley, a journalist, as well as Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.
The Virginia federal court case was on charges of hostage taking resulting in death and other counts involving the four U.S. citizens and also of British and Japanese nationals.
U.S. officials had agreed to seek a life sentence rather than death for Elsheikh and a friend, Alexanda Kotey, to win their extradition from Britain.
Elsheikh and Kotey were apparently the “Ringo” and “George” of the ISIS Beatles, although accounts differ on which one had which nickname.
Foley’s mother, Diane Foley, on Friday addressed Elsheikh at his sentencing hearing, which fell on the eighth anniversary of her son’s decapitation. “Hatred truly overwhelmed your humanity,” she told him.
Diane Foley (center), the mother of James Foley, and Carl and Marsha Mueller, the parents of Kayla Mueller, speak to reporters outside the a federal courthouse following the sentencing of El Shafee Elsheikh, in Alexandria, Va., Friday. (OLIVIER DOULIERY/)
Outside the courthouse, Foley said she met with Kotey last year, who she said was “respectful” but offered no apology and didn’t tell her where the beheaded victims were buried, according to the BBC.
“It made me realize how much he’s lost by following hatred and propaganda,” she said. “It made me pity him.”
Kotey’s guilty plea required that he meet with victims’ families. He has already been sentenced to life in prison.
Diane Foley (left), the mother of James Foley, and Carl and Marsha Mueller, the parents of Kayla Mueller, speak to reporters after the sentencing. (AFP Contributor#AFP/)
One of Elsheikh’s victims who detailed his experience to the court was Danish photographer Daniel Rye Ottosen, who was close to Foley. Before being ransomed, Ottosen memorized a goodbye letter the slain journalists asked to be recited to his family.
He said when Elsheikh and the rest of the Beatles beat him, it was a welcome break from being alone with his thoughts.
Prisoners said they were often transferred, tortured and forced to fight one another. Their tormentors used photos of murdered hostages to keep them in line.
Carl Mueller’s daughter Kayla Mueller the only victim of the four at the center of Elsheikh’s case whose death was not recorded on video. She was reportedly forced into slavery and raped by late ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before being killed.
FILE - This undated image made from video released by Islamic State militants on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014, purports to show journalist James Foley before he was killed by the militant group. (Uncredited/)
Outside the courthouse, Mueller noted foreign hostages whose countries agreed to pay ransoms came home to their families.
“Hopefully our government in the future will do like so many others do, and get them home, not leave them,” he suggested.
Kayla Mueller after she spoke to a group in Prescott, Ariz. in May 2013. (Matt Hinshaw/AP/)
Elsheikh is the highest ranking ISIS member to be tried on U.S. soil. He and Kotey, along with Aine Davis, are the three remaining so-called ISIS Beatles still alive.
The BBC reports Davis spent more than seven years in Turkey for terrorism offenses before being taken into custody in England last week. The 38-year-old denies being part of the band of brutes.
A 2015 drone strike in Syria took out the fourth Beatle, Mohammed Emwazi, who was also known as Jihadi John. All four men are said to have been raised in West London.
With News Wire Services
