Second ISIS Beatle sentenced to life in US prison for hostage killings

The second "ISIS Beatle" was sentenced to life in prison in a US court on Friday for his role in kidnapping and killing American journalists and aid workers in Syria.

El Shafee Elsheikh, who was stripped of his British citizenship after becoming involved with the terror group, was found guilty earlier this year of participating in a scheme that resulted in the deaths of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig.

Elsheikh was found guilty of all eight charges he faced “relating to his participation in a brutal hostage-taking scheme that resulted in the deaths of four American citizens, as well as the deaths of British and Japanese nationals, in Syria”, the US Justice Department said in a statement.

US District Judge TS Ellis sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Friday morning.

Foley’s mother read a victim impact statement in the Alexandria, Virginia, courtroom.

How the ISIS Beatles were caught

“Knowing Jim, my suffering and that of our family would have given Jim the deepest pain,” Ms Foley told the court room. “[But] Jim would say ‘Elsheikh, you did not kill me. I am alive in my family and friends and their friends.

“I live on in those who survived your inhumanity. I am alive in all those who aspire to moral courage.”

Ms Foley told Elsheikh: “I pity you for choosing hatred and for succumbing to a false theology.”

The group, whose victims called them the "Beatles" due to their English accents, was made up of ringleader Mohammed Emwazi, Aine Davis, Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey.

They are believed to have been responsible for the brutal killings of a number of western captives, including Britons Alan Henning and David Haines.

Emwazi was killed in a drone strike in Raqqa, Syria, in November 2015, while Elsheikh and Kotey were both arrested in 2018 by the Syrian Democratic Forces while trying to flee the crumbling caliphate.

El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey pose for mugshots in an undisclosed location. AFP

The US Department of Justice agreed to take the death penalty off the table for the two in exchange for the British government allowing them to be charged and tried in the US.

Kotey pleaded guilty to all eight charges and was sentenced to life in prison earlier this year. If he meets a certain set of criteria, after 15 years, he may be allowed to serve out the remainder of his sentence in the UK.

Davis spent seven years in a Turkish prison before returning to the UK, where he has since been arrested on terror charges.

This morning’s sentencing occurred on the eighth anniversary of Foley’s death.

Press Association contributed to this report

Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

Dates for the diary

To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:

September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.