Daughter of executed British aid worker says 'The Beatles' jihadis should 'rot in Guantanamo Bay'

Daughter of executed British aid worker says 'The Beatles' jihadis should 'rot in Guantanamo Bay'

The daughter of a British aid worker who was executed by Islamic State has said his alleged killers should be "left to rot in Guantanamo Bay".

Bethany Haines has been angered by claims from Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh that they will not get a fair trial after being stripped of their UK citizenship.

The jihadists, who are accused of being part of a death squad nicknamed "The Beatles" because of their British accents, slammed the Government's "illegal" decision in an interview on Saturday.

Mrs Haines' father David was killed by the IS cell and said Kotey and Elsheikh had shown "no remorse".

She added: "As for them saying they have been stripped of rights, well when they held my father for 18 months with his family not knowing whether he was dead or alive, they stripped him of his rights.

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Image: Alexanda Amon Kotey (L) and El Shafee Elsheikh have spoken out following their capture

"In my opinion they should be given an orange jumpsuit and stripped of all the things they hold dear and left to rot in Guantanamo Bay."

The IS cell also killed American journalist James Foley in 2014.

His mother Diane said: "They deserve to be held in solitary confinement for the rest of their lives and held accountable for the pain they've inflicted."

Kotey and Elsheikh spoke to the Associated Press while being held captive in northern Syria after they were captured in early January in eastern Syria by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Image: David Haines was beheaded by Mohammed Emwazi

The pair used the interview to hit out at the "audacity" of the UK Government for its decision to strip them of their British citizenship in February.

Although it was widely reported, officials have not confirmed or denied it was the case.

"The Beatles" IS cell is believed to have captured, tortured and killed hostages, including aid workers and journalists.

The group included Mohammed Emwazi - dubbed "Jihadi John" - who died in a 2015 drone strike in Raqqa.

Militant: IS beheadings 'regrettable'

The pair have not admitted to being involved in any hostage-takings or beheadings and said the allegations against them were media "propaganda".

However they did speak of their membership of Islamic State.

Kotey, from west London, said the killing of western hostages in Syria was "regrettable" and could have been avoided, adding that many people within IS would have disagreed with the killings.

He said there was "probably more benefit" in those captured being used as political prisoners.

"I didn't see the benefit in executing them," he said, before blaming Western governments for failing to negotiate and noting that some hostages were released for ransoms.

Image: The men were allegedly in the same group as 'Jihadi John'

The cell is believed to have kept more than 20 Westerners hostage, and tortured and killed American, British and Japanese journalists and aid workers in 2014 and 2015.

As well as David Haines and James Foley, their victims included American journalist Steven Sotloff, US humanitarian worker Peter Kassig, and UK aid worker Alan Henning.

Elsheikh, from west London, travelled to Syria in 2012, initially to join an al Qaeda branch before moving to IS, according to US State Department documents, which said he "earned a reputation for waterboarding".

They also claim Kotey served as a guard for the IS cell and was "likely engaged in the group's executions and exceptionally cruel torture methods".

The men criticised the media over the "Beatles" allegations and said the claims were concocted as a pretext to kill them with drone strikes.

"No fair trial, when I am 'the Beatle' in the media. No fair trial," Elsheikh said, who added the loss of their citizenship meant they were now open to "rendition and torture".

Widow of beheaded aid worker pleads for the location of his body

He said: "Being taken to any foreign land and treated in anyway and having nobody to vouch for you.

"When you have these two guys who don't even have any citizenship... if we just disappear one day, where is my mum going to go and say where is my son?"

The capture of Kotey and Elsheikh has since sparked a debate about where they should be tried.

The US has called for the home countries of foreign jihadis to take their nationals back for trial.

However, the UK Government has signalled the pair should not be allowed back into the country.

Haras Rafiq, chief executive of the Quilliam Foundation, a counter-extremism think thank, told Sky News: "The Government is well within its rights to take away their citizenship.

Image: Alan Henning was another of Jihadi John's victims

"They both have nationalities from other countries, and as consistent with other crimes that other people have committed, the home secretary has taken away citizenships before without leaving people stateless.

"If you look at what they're actually saying about fair trial, and the fact that they claim Britain has the audacity to take away their citizenship, this stinks to me like a PR stunt."

Associated Press reporter Andrea Rosa, who interviewed the pair, told Sky News: "It was a bit confrontational I would say at the beginning, they would not speak or even answer our questions at the beginning."

He added: "Because I felt that they were like afraid of something, of an interrogation, they looked at us more as if we were like interrogators rather than journalists."

Mr Rosa continued: "But eventually it was all good and I think they were kind of also probably happy to be out of the prison for a while."

Image: Alexanda Kotey (L) and Shafee Elsheikh were captured in January

When asked if he questioned the pair about the horrific crimes are they accused of, Mr Rosa replied: "We asked those sorts of questions of course but they would not comment on anything like that.

"They wouldn't comment on anything related to their role or job in Islamic State.

"They didn't deny being part of Islamic State.

"But they labelled most of the allegations as media propaganda."</s>Two British members of the Islamic State group who allegedly belonged to a cell notorious for the beheading of hostages in northern Syria say that revoking their citizenship denies them a fair trial.

The two men are thought to be among four members of the ISIS cell dubbed “The Beatles” that are believed to have captured, tortured and killed hostages including American journalists and aid workers.

READ MORE: British ISIS members known as ‘The Beatles’ captured in Syria

They spoke to The Associated Press in an interview from their captivity Friday in northern Syria, the first to a media outlet since their detention. El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Amon Kotey were captured in early January in eastern Syria by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

In the interview, they slammed the “audacity” of the British government for its “illegal” decision to strip their citizenship. They did not admit any involvement in hostage-takings or beheadings.</s>Two Britons accused of being members of Islamic State’s notorious “Beatles” cell have complained that they are unable to get a fair trial because the British government has stripped them of their citizenship.

Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, who are said to have been members of the brutal quartet of IS executioners in Syria and Iraq, also described the execution of hostages as “regrettable”.

The pair spoke to the Associated Press (AP) from a cell in northern Syria, where they have been held since being detained by Kurdish militia in January.

Their capture sparked a row over whether they should be returned to the UK for trial or tried where their alleged crimes were committed.

Elsheikh told AP the “illegal” revocation of the pair’s citizenship exposes them to “rendition and torture”.

He added: “Being taken to any foreign land and treated in anyway and having nobody to vouch for you.

“When you have these two guys who don’t even have any citizenship... if we just disappear one day, where is my mum going to go and say where is my son.”</s>Two Britons accused of being members of Islamic State have complained they cannot get a fair trial because the UK Government stripped them of their citizenship.

Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, who are said to have been members of the brutal “Beatles” quartet of IS executioners in Syria and Iraq, also described the execution of hostages as “regrettable”.

The pair spoke to the Associated Press from a cell in northern Syria, where they have been languishing since they were detained by Kurdish militia in January.

Their capture sparked a row over whether they should be returned to the UK for trial or tried where their alleged crimes were committed.

Elsheikh told AP the “illegal” revocation of the pair’s citizenship exposes them to “rendition and torture”.

He added: “Being taken to any foreign land and treated in anyway and having nobody to vouch for you.

“When you have these two guys who don’t even have any citizenship… if we just disappear one day, where is my mum going to go and say where is my son.”

He added they could also have “no fair trial, when I am ‘the Beatle’ in the media”.

Along with Mohammed Emwazi – the killer nicknamed Jihadi John – and Aine Davis, Kotey and Elsheikh – a former child refugee – are thought to have been part of a group named after the ’60s band because of their English accents.

The four Londoners were linked to a string of hostage murders in Iraq and Syria during the bloody Islamist uprising and gained global notoriety.

Emwazi, who was killed in a US airstrike in 2015, appeared in a number of videos in which captives including British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning were beheaded.

Davis was convicted of being a member of a terrorist organisation and jailed for seven-and-a-half years at a court in Silivri, Turkey, in May 2017

Kotey told the Associated Press that many people in IS would have opposed the executions “on the grounds that there is probably more benefit in them being political prisoners.”

He told the agency: “As for my position, I didn’t see any benefit. It was something that was regrettable.”

Last month Home Secretary Amber Rudd has left the door open to putting the British men on trial in a UK court.

The Home Secretary said she was “absolutely convinced and absolutely committed” to the idea of them “facing justice”.

Her comments came after Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said the pair should not return to the UK, because they had “turned their back on British ideas, British values”.

His comments threatened to spark a diplomatic row with the United States, which wants countries to take responsibility for their citizens arrested in the fight against IS.

It was understood the pair had been stripped of their British citizenship, although officials at the Home Office refused to comment on individual cases at the time.</s>Two British members the Islamic State group believed to have belonged to a cell notorious for beheading hostages in northern Syria said Friday that their home country's revoking of their citizenship denies them the possibility of fair trial. One of them said the killings of captives was "regrettable" and could have been avoided.

The men were allegedly among four British jihadis who made up the IS cell nicknamed "The Beatles" by surviving captives because of their English accents. The cell became known for its brutality, holding in captivity more than 20 Western hostages, and torturing and killing several, including American, British and Japanese journalists and aid workers, in 2014 and 2015.

The two men, El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Amon Kotey, spoke to The Associated Press from their detention Friday in northern Syria in their first interview with the media. They were captured in early January in eastern Syria by the Kurdish-led U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces amid the collapse of IS.

Though they spoke of their membership in the Islamic State group, they did not admit to belonging to the cell or to have been involved in any of the kidnappings or killings.

Asked about the beheadings of American journalist James Foley and other victims, Kotey said many in IS "would have disagreed" with the killings "on the grounds that there is probably more benefit in them being political prisoners."

"As for my position, I didn't see any benefit. It was something that was regrettable," he added. He also blamed Western governments for failing to negotiate, noting that some hostages were released for ransoms.

The leader of the cell, Mohammed Emwazi, was dubbed "Jihadi John" in the British media after he appeared, masked, in a string of videos showing beheadings of the hostages. He was killed in a U.S.-led coalition drone strike in 2015 in the Syrian city of Raqqa, the de facto IS capital. Another member, Aine Lesley Davis, was arrested in Turkey and convicted there in 2017, sentenced to seven years in prison.

Elsheikh, whose family came to Britain from Sudan when he was a child, was a mechanic from White City in west London. Kotey, who is of Ghanaian and Greek-Cypriot descent and converted to Islam in his 20s, is from London's Paddington neighborhood. Both have been interrogated by U.S. officials since their capture.

Elsheikh traveled to Syria in 2012, initially joining al-Qaida's branch before moving on to IS, according to the U.S. State Department's listing of the two men for terrorism sanctions. It said he "earned a reputation for waterboarding, mock executions and crucifixions while serving as an (IS) jailer."

Kotey served as a guard for the execution cell and "likely engaged in the group's executions and exceptionally cruel torture methods, including electronic shock and waterboarding," the State Department said.

In the interview, the two men denounced the media for the spreading allegations of the "Beatles" cell, at one point depicting the accusations as concocted as a pretext to kill them with drone strikes in Syria.

"No fair trial, when I am 'the Beatle' in the media. No fair trial," Elsheikh said.

They also denounced as "illegal" the British government's decision in February to strip them of citizenship. The decision was widely reported in British media, though officials have not confirmed or denied it, citing privacy rules.

The revocation of citizenship exposes them to "rendition and torture," Elsheikh said, "being taken to any foreign land and treated in anyway and having nobody to vouch for you."

"When you have these two guys who don't even have any citizenship ...if we just disappear one day, where is my mom going to go and say where is my son," he said.

The capture of the two men has sparked a debate over where and how to prosecute them. The U.S. has been pressing for the home countries of foreign jihadis in Iraq and Syria to take their nationals for trial. Britain's defense secretary has said they should not be allowed back into the country. Former captives of the cell and families of its victims have called on Elsheikh and Kotey to be given a fair trial, whether in the United States or Britain.</s>KOBANI, Syria (AP) — 2 alleged members of IS cell that beheaded hostages in Syria say revoking British citizenship denies them fair trial.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>The daughter of a man killed by Islamic State militants has expressed anger at complaints by his alleged killers that they will not get a fair trial.

Bethany Haines, whose father David died in Syria, said Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh had shown "no remorse".

The pair, who say their UK citizenship has been illegally withdrawn, allegedly belonged to an IS group dubbed "The Beatles" because of their UK accents.

Now jailed in Syria, they called the murder of IS hostages "regrettable".
• Who were the Islamic State group 'Beatles' cell?
• Families of IS victims say 'Beatles' pair 'should face trial'
• Where should the IS 'Beatles' be tried?

Ms Haines, whose father was held hostage for 18 months by the group, said: "It shocks me that two individuals who have committed such heinous crimes have been treated like guests with access to the media and are allowed access to smartphones.

"As for them saying that their actions in Syria are regrettable is an understatement."

In an interview with Associated Press from northern Syria, Elsheikh said the "illegal" withdrawal of their UK citizenship put them at risk of "rendition and torture".

"Being taken to any foreign land and treated in any way and having nobody to vouch for you," he said.

"When you have these two guys who don't even have any citizenship... if we just disappear one day, where is my mum going to go and say, 'Where is my son?'"

He said he could have "no fair trial" when he was "the Beatle" in the media.

But Ms Haines said the men could not ask for their rights when they had "stripped" her father of his by holding him "with his family not knowing whether he was dead or alive".

She said: "In my opinion they should be given an orange jumpsuit and stripped of all the things they hold dear and left to rot in Guantanamo Bay."

Her views were echoed by Diane Foley, whose son James, an American journalist, was beheaded by the group in Syria in 2014. She said she wasn't interested in their opinions and doubted the sincerity of what they had said.

"I am interested in them being held accountable for their horrific crimes and right now, they look like they're on vacation," she told Radio 4's Today programme.

"I know it's complicated but if someone doesn't take the leadership and take them to trial I fear they'll get away."

Sarah El Deeb, the journalist who interview the pair, described the men as "very smart" and "very religious".

"I don't think they were very apologetic about being members of Islamic state," she told the BBC.

US officials believe the so-called "Beatles" cell beheaded more than 27 Western hostages and tortured many more.

Kotey told the Associated Press that he "didn't see any benefit" to the killings.

"It was something that was regrettable," he said.

He also said many people in IS would have opposed the murders "on the grounds that there is probably more benefit in them being political prisoners".

The other cell members were Mohammed Emwazi, nicknamed "Jihadi John", and Aine Davis.

All four were from west London.

Emwazi, who was the alleged ringleader and appeared in videos showing hostages being beheaded, was killed by a drone strike in 2015.

Davis was convicted of being a senior IS member and was jailed in Turkey last year.
• Aine Davis, the gangster who ditched drugs for jihad

Captives killed by the cell are thought to have included Alan Henning as well as Mr Haines. The men, both British aid workers were beheaded.

Last month, Home Secretary Amber Rudd said the two remaining suspects in the 'Beatles' gang should go on trial.

She said the US and UK were in talks about what to do with the two men.

Both Kotey and Elsheikh have been designated terrorists by the US, which says they used "exceptionally cruel" torture methods.

UK defence minister Tobias Ellwood said he believed the men should be tried in an international criminal court.

The families of some of the victims also said the pair "should face trial".</s>Two members of Isis’s notorious ‘Beatles’ cell have slammed Britain for denying them the possibility of having a fair trial.

The men, allegedly part of the group brutal group which became known for beheading hostages, said the government’s decision to strip them of their citizenship was ‘illegal’.

El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Amon Kotey, speaking from their detention today in northern Syria, were captured in early January by the Syrian Democratic Forces.

They are believed to be among four British jihadis who made up the IS cell which became known for its brutality, holding in captivity more than 20 Western hostages, and torturing and killing several, including American, British and Japanese journalists and aid workers, in 2014 and 2015.

One of them said the killings of captives was ‘regretable’ and could have been avoided.

Though they spoke of their membership in the Islamic State group, they did not admit to belonging to the cell or to have been involved in any of the kidnappings or killings.

Elsheikh, from White City in west London, called the allegations ‘propaganda.’

Asked about the beheadings of American journalist James Foley and other victims, Kotey, from Paddington, said many in IS ‘would have disagreed’ with the killings ‘on the grounds that there is probably more benefit in them being political prisoners.’

‘As for my position, I didn’t see any benefit. It was something that was regrettable,’ he added. He also blamed Western governments for failing to negotiate, noting that some hostages were released for ransoms.

They denounced the media for spreading allegations of the ‘Beatles’ cell, at one point depicting the accusations as concocted as a pretext to kill them with drone strikes in Syria.

‘No fair trial, when I am “the Beatle” in the media. No fair trial,’ Elsheikh said.

The revocation of citizenship exposes them to ‘rendition and torture,’ Elsheikh said, ‘being taken to any foreign land and treated in anyway and having nobody to vouch for you.’

‘When you have these two guys who don’t even have any citizenship …if we just disappear one day, where is my mom going to go and say where is my son,’ he said.

The U.S. has been pressing for the home countries of foreign jihadis in Iraq and Syria to take their nationals for trial.

Britain’s defense secretary has said they should not be allowed back into the country.</s>Two British militants believed to have been part of an Islamic State group cell notorious for beheading hostages in Syria have complained they will not be given a fair trial.

The men, along with two other British jihadis, allegedly made up the Isis cell nicknamed “the Beatles” by surviving captives because of their English accents.

In 2014 and 2015, the cell held more than 20 western hostages in Syria. It beheaded seven American, British and Japanese journalists and aid workers and a group of Syrian soldiers, boasting of the butchery in videos released to the world.

Speaking to the Associated Press at a Kurdish security centre, El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, repeatedly refused to address allegations they were part of the cell. 



They were captured in January in eastern Syria by the Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces amid the collapse of Isis.

The two said the killings of the captives were a mistake but for tactical reasons.

Many in Isis would have disagreed with the killings “on the grounds that there is probably more benefit in them being political prisoners”, Kotey said.

“I didn’t see any benefit [in killing them]. It was something that was regrettable.” He blamed western governments for failing to negotiate, noting that some hostages were released for ransoms.

The beheadings, often carried out on camera, horrified the world soon after Isis took over much of Iraq and Syria in 2014. The group also committed widescale atrocities including massacring thousands of Iraqi troops and civilians and taking sex slaves. 



The first victim was the American journalist James Foley, followed by fellow Americans Steven Sotloff and Peter Kassig, the British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning and the Japanese journalists Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto.

The leader of the cell, Mohammed Emwazi, was nicknamed “Jihadi John” in the British media after he appeared, masked, in the videos. He was killed in a US-led coalition drone strike in 2015 in the Syrian city of Raqqa, the de facto Isis capital. Another member, Aine Davis, was arrested in Turkey and convicted there in 2017, sentenced to seven years in prison.

Elsheikh, whose family came to Britain from Sudan when he was a child, was a mechanic from White City in west London.

He travelled to Syria in 2012, initially joining al-Qaida’s branch before moving on to Isis, according to the US state department. It said he had “earned a reputation for waterboarding, mock executions and crucifixions while serving as an [Isis] jailer”.

Kotey, who is of Ghanaian and Greek-Cypriot descent and converted to Islam in his 20s, is from Paddington in west London.

He served in the Isis cell as a guard, and “likely engaged in the group’s executions and exceptionally cruel torture methods”, the state department said.

The pair scoffed at the idea that that they were a cell and depicted the allegations as having been created by media and foreign intelligence.

“No fair trial when I am ‘the Beatle’ in the media,” Elsheikh said.

The two denounced the British government’s reported decision in February to strip them of citizenship as “illegal”. The decision was widely reported in British media, though officials have not confirmed or denied it, citing privacy rules.

“When you have these two guys who don’t even have any citizenship ... if we just disappear one day, where is my mom going to go and say where is my son,” Elsheikh said.

Kotey said the fairest venue for a trial may be the international criminal court in the Hague in the Netherlands.

In February, the home secretary, Amber Rudd hinted, that the pair could be returned to the UK to face trial.

She said: “The important thing is that they have been arrested and the important thing is, to us, that they will face trial.”</s>Two British members of the Islamic State, who were allegedly part of a group of British jihadis dubbed 'The Beatles', have complained about having their UK citizenship revoked.

Believed to be part of a cell which became notorious for beheading hostages, the two men spoke to the Associated Press from detention in Northern Syria, saying they can't get a fair trial after losing their citizenship.

The cell gained widespread media coverage for torturing and killing several hostages in 2014 and 2015, including American, British and Japanese journalists and aid workers.

One of them said the killings of captives was "regrettable" and could have been avoided.

The two men, El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Amon Kotey, were captured in early January in eastern Syria by the Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces amid the collapse of IS.

Though they spoke of their membership in the Islamic State group, they did not admit to belonging to the cell or to have been involved in any of the kidnappings or killings.

Asked about the beheadings of American journalist James Foley and other victims, Kotey said many in IS "would have disagreed" with the killings "on the grounds that there is probably more benefit in them being political prisoners."

"As for my position, I didn't see any benefit. It was something that was regrettable," he added. He also blamed Western governments for failing to negotiate, noting that some hostages were released for ransoms.

The leader of the cell, Mohammed Emwazi, was dubbed "Jihadi John" in the British media after he appeared, masked, in a string of videos showing beheadings of the hostages.

He was killed in a US-led coalition drone strike in 2015 in the Syrian city of Raqqa, the de facto IS capital.

Another member, Aine Lesley Davis, was arrested in Turkey and convicted there in 2017, sentenced to seven years in prison.

Elsheikh, whose family came to Britain from Sudan when he was a child, was a mechanic from White City in west London.

Kotey, who is of Ghanaian and Greek-Cypriot descent and converted to Islam in his 20s, is from London's Paddington neighborhood.

Both have been interrogated by U.S. officials since their capture.

Elsheikh traveled to Syria in 2012, initially joining al-Qaida's branch before moving on to IS, according to the US State Department's listing of the two men for terrorism sanctions.

It said he "earned a reputation for waterboarding, mock executions and crucifixions while serving as an (IS) jailer."

Kotey served as a guard for the execution cell and "likely engaged in the group's executions and exceptionally cruel torture methods, including electronic shock and waterboarding," the State Department said.

In the interview, the two men denounced the media for the spreading allegations of the "Beatles" cell, at one point depicting the accusations as concocted as a pretext to kill them with drone strikes in Syria.

"No fair trial, when I am 'the Beatle' in the media. No fair trial," Elsheikh said.

They also denounced as "illegal" the British government's decision in February to strip them of citizenship.

The revocation of citizenship exposes them to "rendition and torture," Elsheikh said, "being taken to any foreign land and treated in anyway and having nobody to vouch for you."

"When you have these two guys who don't even have any citizenship ...if we just disappear one day, where is my mom going to go and say where is my son," he said.
Alexanda Amon Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, detained in Syria on suspicion of beheading hostages for Islamic State, claim their right to a fair trial has been breached by the government of the United Kingdom stripping them of citizenship.