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Diane Foley, the mother of James Foley, an American journalist who was murdered by ISIS terrorists, speaks to reporters outside US Federal Court in Alexandria, Virginia, following the trial of ISIS member El Shafee Elsheikh
Photo: STEFANI REYNOLDS / AFP
The IS jihadist El Shafee Elsheikh, who belonged to a cell that became known as the “Beatles”, has been found guilty on all charges in a terror trial in the USA.
A federal jury in Alexandria, near Washington, found the 33-year-old man guilty of taking part in the kidnapping and murder of US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and US development workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.
The sentence against the former member of the jihadist militia »Islamic State« (IS) will be announced at a later date.
The man, who grew up in Great Britain, faces a life sentence.
He had been charged with conspiracy to take hostages resulting in death, hostage-taking resulting in death, conspiracy to murder US citizens and conspiracy to assist a terrorist group.
The 33-year-old had belonged to a jihadist group in Syria, which was given the name "Beatles" by its hostages because of the British accent of its members.
The group, which became known through IS propaganda videos, is said to have been involved in the kidnapping of numerous people in Syria between 2012 and 2015.
French and a German were among the hostages.
The group is blamed for the torture and murder of US citizens Foley, Sotloff, Kassig and Mueller.
Probably the best-known member of the »Beatles« was the Briton Mohammed Emwazi aka »Jihadi John«, who was killed in a drone attack in 2015.
IS videos showed him beheading Foley and Sotloff.
Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, who also grew up in Great Britain, were captured by Kurdish units in Syria in early 2018, later taken to Iraq and finally to the USA in October 2020.
Kotey pleaded guilty in September 2021, his sentence has not yet been determined.
During the Alexandria trial, Elsheikh denied having belonged to The Beatles.
His lawyer told the court that none of the previous hostages identified Elsheikh during the trial.
The public prosecutor's office, on the other hand, stated that Elsheikh's membership in the "Beatles" had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Britain has since revoked the man's British citizenship.
jso/AFP
