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El Shafee Elsheikh (born 16 July 1988), known as Jihadi Ringo, is a Sudanese Wahhabi terrorist who took part in atrocities of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS and IS) as one of the four so-called Jihadi Beatles. He was found guilty of eight charges of hostage taking and murder by an American court in 2022 and later sentenced to eight life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Early life and family

Born in Sudan, Elsheikh spent his youth in London, England. The Daily Telegraph reports he was a follower of a local football team, Queen's Park Rangers, and dreamed of joining the team when he grew up.

In 2010, he married a Canadian woman of Ethiopian descent. When he moved to Syria with a second wife, his Canadian wife moved there to join them, where she then had children with Elsheikh. Later identified as Dure Ahmed, she was repatriated to Canada from Syria in April 2023, after joining a court case against the Government of Canada demanding that Canadian wives and children of ISIS terrorists be brought home. She was arrested upon her arrival, then released with strict bail conditions, facing further conditions and possible charges under a terrorism peace bond at hearings in October 2023.

Terrorist activity

In 2014 and 2015, ISIL held dozens of European and North American captives, and the brutal conditions of their detention were widely reported. Four English-speaking terrorists played a central role in the brutality. Their identities were initially either not known or security officials did not make their identities known to the public. Due to their British accents, their captives dubbed them The Beatles, with Mohammed Emwazi, the most well-known of the group, having been dubbed "Jihadi John". Later, Elsheikh was reported to have been one of the other three Beatles.

On 30 March 2017, Elsheikh and four other men were named as suspected terrorists, by the United States State Department, under Executive Order 13224. This Executive Order signed by US President George W. Bush, shortly after al Qaeda's attacks on 9/11, allowed the State Department to bar US citizens, US financial institutions, and other US corporations, from having any financial transactions with designated individuals.

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) captured Elsheikh, and his friend Alexanda Kotey, on 24 January 2018 as he was fleeing from the collapse of ISIL, the short-lived "Islamic State". The pair were reported to have been trying to blend in with genuine civilian refugees, fleeing the collapse of the last ISIL enclaves.

Prosecution

The Independent reported that the United Kingdom government was considering agreeing that Kotey and Elsheikh could be transferred to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Detention in Guantanamo could be indefinite detention, without charge, if transferred to US custody. For a civilian trial, it was anticipated that they would be incarcerated at the Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, if they were convicted.

Another option under consideration was trial at the International Court in The Hague. According to The Independent, the UK government would first strip Kotey and Elsheikh of UK citizenship, prior to agreeing to transfer to The Hague.

The Guardian quoted Tobias Ellwood, the UK Minister of Defence, who argued that transfer to Guantanamo was inappropriate. In a face-to-face interview with Jenan Moussa of Al Aan TV in Kobanî, Syria, at the beginning of April 2018, Elsheikh said he was interviewed by US and SDF officials, but not by UK officials.

On 7 October 2020, Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey were brought to the United States to face charges of beheading western hostages. Elsheikh denied being a member of "the Beatles" but admitted joining the ISIL terrorist group. On 14 April 2022, after a three week trial, he was found guilty of lethal hostage taking and conspiracy to commit murder and on 19 August 2022, was sentenced to eight life sentences without the possibility of parole. Elsheikh immediately confirmed his intention to appeal his conviction.

On 24 September 2022, Elsheikh was transferred into the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and designated to United States Penitentiary, Florence High. Some members of the victims of family expressed disappointment in the Bureau of Prisons for designating Elsheikh and Kotey to merely high-security penitentiaries instead of the federal supermax ADX Florence. David Spencer of the Center for Crime Prevention slammed the decision, claiming it was a "soft" punishment for the actions of Elsheikh and Kotey. On 3 March 2023, Elsheikh was transferred from Florence High to the adjacent ADX Florence.

References

1. ^ Honderich, Holly (19 August 2022). "Elshafee El Sheikh: Ex-Briton 'Isis Beatle' sentenced to life in prison". BBC News.
2. "Counter Terrorism Designations | U.S. Department of the Treasury". Home.treasury.gov. 30 March 2017. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
3. "Witnesses describe hostages' despair at Brit's terror trial". AP News. 6 April 2022. Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
4. "Another Islamic State jailer who held Western hostages identified as Londoner". The Washington Post. 7 February 2008. Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
5. "ISIS Accomplice Of "Jihadi John" Named As "Quiet And Humble" Londoner". BuzzFeed News. 8 February 2008. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
6. ISIS ‘Beatle’ Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Hostage-Taking Scheme that Resulted in the Deaths of American, British, and Japanese Citizens, U.S. Dept. of Justice website. Accessed 13 February 2024.
7. Dearden, Lizzie (31 March 2018) "Isis 'Beatles' militants captured in Syria accuse government of breaking law by removing British citizenship Archived 2018-03-30 at the Wayback Machine", The Independent
8. ^ Rohit Kachroo (9 February 2018). "Alexanda Kotey image: ITV News obtains exclusive first photo of IS 'Beatle' in detention". ITV. Archived from the original on 10 February 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018. The bearded Kotey is seen in a tatty grey t-shirt after being captured in Syria in January, trying to smuggle himself into Turkey.
9. Martin Evans, Josie Ensor, Steve Bird, Patrick Sawer (9 February 2018). "Revealed: How two London schoolboys became the world's most wanted murderers". The Telegraph (UK). Archived from the original on 11 February 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018. Growing up in west London in the 1990s, Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh had many things in common, not least their passion for Queens Park Rangers - the local football team.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
10. ^ "Last of ISIL's beheading 'Beatles' identified, has Canadian connection". The Washington Post. 24 May 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2023 – via National Post.
11. ^ Burke, Ashley (16 October 2023). Repatriated Canadian Woman was Married to Notorious ISIS Fighter, Court Confirms. CBC News: The National (YouTube). Toronto. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
12. Burke, Ashley (6 April 2023). "RCMP arrest 3 Canadian women after repatriation from camps in northeastern Syria". CBC News. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
13. ^ Rob Merrick (11 February 2018). "Britain 'may not challenge' Donald Trump if he decides to send jihadi 'Beatles' to Guantanamo, Justice Secretary says: Britain has yet to make any representations to Washington because it must first 'consider our options', David Gauke says". The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 May 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018. But he refused to say the Government would intervene if the US President opted to send the pair to the notorious detention centre in Cuba for suspected terrorists.
14. "State Department Terrorist Designations of El Shafee Elsheikh, Anjem Choudary, Sami Bouras, Shane Dominic Crawford, and Mark John Taylor". U.S. Department of State. 30 March 2017. Archived from the original on 31 March 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
15. ^ Lolita C. Baldur (11 February 2018). "US wants foreign fighters in Syria to face justice at home". National Post. Rome. Retrieved 11 February 2018. U.S. officials have interrogated the men, who were part of the IS cell that captured, tortured and beheaded more than two dozen hostages, including American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and American aid worker Peter Kassig.
16. Ian Cobain, Vikram Dodd (9 February 2018). "Put 'Beatles' Isis fighters on trial, victims' families say: Families express relief and call for Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh to be put on trial". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 February 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018. Relatives of the victims of an Islamic State torture and murder cell known as "the Beatles" have expressed relief that the two remaining members have been captured and said they wanted to see them stand trial.
17. "أول مقابلة تلفزيونية مع أخطر مقاتل بريطاني في صفوف داعش - Jenan Mousa Pays British ISIL Beatle member a Visit in Custody". Akhbar Al Aan. Al Aan TV. 8 April 2018. Archived from the original on 3 March 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
18. "Islamic State 'Beatles' charged in US over hostages' deaths". BBC. 7 October 2020. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
19. "El Shafee Elsheikh: Guilty verdict for Islamic State 'Beatle' jihadist". BBC. 14 April 2022. Archived from the original on 15 April 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
20. Thrush, Glenn; Goldman, Adam (19 August 2022). "Islamic State Militant Sentenced to 8 Life Terms in Killing of U.S. Hostages". The New York Times.
21. "Islamic State 'Beatle' gets life term for US hostage deaths". The Independent. Via AP news wire. 19 August 2022.
22. "El Shafee Elsheikh: Outrage as ISIS 'Beatle' guilty of horrific beheadings manages to evade supermax prison". meaww.com. 27 September 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
23. "Inmate Locator". bop.gov. Retrieved 3 March 2023.

• 1988 births
• Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members from the United Kingdom
• Living people
• People extradited to the United States
• People extradited from Iraq
• Inmates of ADX Florence
• Sudanese Islamists
• Sudanese emigrants to the United Kingdom
• People convicted of murder by the United States federal government
• Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government
• Sudanese al-Qaeda members