Exclusive: US open to dropping death penalty for Isil Beatles after UK objection

The Trump administration is open to taking the death penalty off the table for British Isil suspects “The Beatles” - which the UK had objected to - paving the way for a trial in the US, The Telegraph understands.

Bill Barr, US Attorney General, this week signalled a change of opinion on the issue to senior officials, according to a source with knowledge of a meeting which took place on Wednesday.

Mr Barr met with the officials at the White House and said he would be willing to make the concession to move along the case, which he described as a "priority".

The issue has been a sticking point between the allies. Britain’s Supreme Court in March ruled that it was unlawful for authorities to cooperate with the US in a high-profile terrorism case without first being assured that Londoners Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee ElSheikh would not face the death penalty, which the UK objects to.

The UK earlier this month told their American counterparts that they had suspended sending over all evidence in criminal cases because the US still uses capital punishment.

“There has been a definite change of opinion,” the US source said. “They were just anxious that the Brits would work with them sharing their intelligence and that would only happen if they removed the death penalty. No one was budging, until now.”

Mr Barr has been in touch with families of the US victims of the pair - who have been held in US custody in Iraq since October - for "guidance" on how to proceed in the case and is due to hold a meeting with them next week.

The families of James Foley, Steven Sotloff and Kayla Mueller, who were killed by Islamic State militants, have urged the Department of Justice to do whatever they could to ensure the pair are brought to the US for trial, including dropping the option of the death penalty.

It is understood the Trump administration, which has been publicly pushing for the reinstatement of capital punishment at federal level by appealing the stay of a number of executions, had a change of heart last week.

Pressure on the administration has grown following revelations last Thursday that The Beatles had been involved in the kidnapping of American volunteer Ms Mueller. Two of the members, Kotey, 36, and Elsheikh, 32, who have been stripped of their British citizenship, appeared to confirm their roles in the captivity of the aid worker, who is believed to have been killed in 2015.

On the same day, the three families published an op-ed in the Washington Post calling for the pair to be tried in the US.

The appeal, and the new disclosure, prompted the administration to move quickly.

Previously, officials within the Department of Justice were said to have rebuffed the families, telling them they were in talks with the UK and there was nothing to discuss.

Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, meanwhile hinted that a decision had been reached on Thursday when he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that there would be a "good outcome" in the case "in the coming weeks".

He claimed the president was in agreement.

This paper understands that it would be the Eastern District of Virginia that would prosecute the pair, should they be successfully indicted.

Dropping their objections would in theory allow US prosecutors to use evidence at trial gathered by UK intelligence, without which building a strong case would be extremely difficult.

The US believes it needs evidence held by the British to make a strong enough case to prosecute the pair.

Sources told the Telegraph the administration would present the decision not as a concession but as a signal that they are "tough on terrorism" and show their willingness to "seek terrorists out wherever they find them".

Diane Foley, the mother of James Foley, an American journalist executed by British Isil leader Mohammed Emwazi, told the Telegraph she did not agree with the death penalty and wanted to see the men face justice in a US court as soon as possible.

Mrs Foley, of New Hampshire, said she would not want to see the pair tried in the UK, fearing they would receive a lesser sentence.

“I am hopeful this administration is moving things forward,” she said by phone on Friday. “Before they were against dropping the death penalty as they thought it would make them look weak, submitting to the UK. Now there is a hesitancy.

“The longer they (The Beatles) are held in these conditions, the greater chance they could claim human rights objections and get a lighter sentence in court, or even escape.

“We have waited more than two years.”