ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) – A member of the Islamic State group, convicted last April for his role in the beheading of American journalists and aid workers kidnapped in Syria, was sentenced to life in prison by a U.S. court on Friday.
A member of a group of four jihadists nicknamed “The Beatles” because of their British accent, El Shafee el-Sheikh, 33, was found guilty in April of complicity in murder by a popular jury.
El Shafee el-Sheikh, who was born in Sudan and grew up in London, was being prosecuted for his role in the murder of four American nationals: journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff as well as aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig.
He was stripped of British citizenship in 2018.
El Shafee el-Sheikh faced the death penalty but US prosecutors had told British authorities they would not seek the penalty.
(Report by Kanishka Singh, French version Matthieu Protard, edited by Tangi Salaün)
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