(AFP) El Shafee Elsheikh studied mechanical engineering in London, but now faces accusations he was a member of the notorious Islamic State kidnap-and-murder cell known as the “Beatles.”
Elsheikh is on trial in federal court in Alexandria for the murders of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and relief workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.
One of the four members of a jihadist cell nicknamed the “Beatles” by their captives due to their British origins, Elsheikh was captured by Kurdish forces in Syria in January 2018 along with another “Beatle,” Alexanda Amon Kotey, and flown to the United States.
Kotey, 37, pleaded guilty in September 2021, but Elsheikh opted to fight the charges of hostage-taking, conspiracy to murder US citizens and supporting a foreign terrorist organization.
