British IS member found guilty | NZZ

(dpa)

A notorious British member of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia has been found guilty in the United States of taking part in the kidnapping and killing of American citizens. The Justice Department said Thursday evening (local time) that a jury in a federal court in the state of Virginia had found the defendant al-Shafi Elsheikh guilty of four hostage-takings and conspiring to kill those American hostages. He faces life imprisonment. The sentence is to be announced by the court on August 12.

According to the indictment, the 33-year-old belonged to an IS terrorist cell that became known as “The Beatles” because of the origin and accent of the members. According to the US State Department, the cell beheaded more than two dozen hostages and tortured many more. Their victims included the American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and the development workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller. Videos of beheadings, with prisoners dressed in orange overalls, sparked global outrage in 2014.

The Justice Ministry said Elsheikh personally guarded hostages from Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, New Zealand and Switzerland in Syria and participated in negotiations for their release. Together with two other IS members, he is said to have overseen the prison where the hostages were being held. “Elsheikh and his co-conspirators engaged in a sustained pattern of physical and psychological violence against the hostages in an attempt to break the hostages,” the ministry said. This also had the aim of enforcing high ransom payments and other demands.

Elsheikh had been extradited by the UK along with another suspected member of the cell, Alexanda Kotey, on condition that he would not face the death penalty in the US. Kotey pleaded guilty in a US court last year. The sentence is to be determined on April 29th.