Two IS ‘Beatles’ set for US trial over beheadings of Syria hostages after landmark ruling

Judges today paved the way for two so-called Islamic State “Beatles” from Britain, allegedly involved in the beheading of hostages in Syria, to be sent for trial in the US as they rejected a human rights appeal on their behalf.

In a landmark ruling, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Burnett, and another senior judge, Mr Justice Garnham, said the Government was entitled to share intelligence with US authorities about the suspected role of former Londoners El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey in “acts of barbaric terrorism in Syria”.

They said that a human rights challenge brought by Elsheikh’s mother, Maha El Gizouli, on five separate points related to the risk that her son might face the death penalty could not be upheld, although they granted her the right to seek a judicial review.

Both Elsheikh and Kotey are among a large number of foreign IS fighters being held by Kurdish forces in Syria while discussions about their fate continue.

They are alleged to be part of a four-man IS cell dubbed “The Beatles” alongside Mohammed Emwazi, known as “Jihadi John” and another Londoner, Aine Davis.

Together, they are believed by the US authorities to have carried out 27 beheadings, including of US and UK citizens in IS-held territory.

Those killed included the British aid workers Alan Henning and David Haines and the US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

Ministers have said that they support putting Elsheikh and Kotey on trial for their alleged crimes but have insisted that this country has no obligation to do so because both have been stripped of their citizenship and are now the responsibility of other countries.

The Government has also said that it has no legal means to bring them here because they are in the hands of a rebel force, rather than a recognised state with which Britain has an extradition treaty or other agreement.

Intelligence gathered by British agencies was, however, being shared with the US authorities until the appeal by Elsheikh’s mother was launched last year. Her lawyers argued that such sharing was unlawful unless the Home Office obtained assurances from the US that her son and Kotey would not face the death penalty.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid had previously said that ministers had decided not to seek such assurances in what critics claimed was an unprecedented departure from normal practice.