Trump White House may send ISIS 'Beatles' who killed James Foley and Steven Sotloff to Guantanamo as part of plan to transport hundreds more captured jihadists to an Iraqi prison
- The plan applies to 600 jihadis who were captured on the battlefield in Syria
- Among them are British terrorists Alexander Amon Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh
- The pair are two of four British ISIS fighters known as The Beatles by comrades
- They are responsible for the deaths of five American and British civilians
- James Foley, Peter Kassig and Steven Sotloff are among the US citizens they slaughtered
- The UK has already granted the US permission to handle their case and, if they see it fit, execute them
- The two men were stripped of their British citizenship before they were captured
President Trump is weighing up a plan to send hundreds of captured ISIS fighters including the notorious 'Beatles' jihadists to Iraqi prisons and Guantanamo Bay.
According to US officials cited by NBC on Thursday, the two remaining 'Beatles' - Alexandar Amon Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh - would be sent to Guantanamo Bay.
They are the 'Ringo' and 'George' of the four British terrorists who were nicknamed by fellow terrorists on the battlefield because of their accents.
The others are Mohammed Emwazi, aka Jihadi John who was killed in a drone strike in 2015, and Aine Lesley Davis who is in a Turkish prison, leaving just Kotey and Elsheikh in the hands of President Trump who has been given free reign over their fate by the British government.
Together, the four men are responsible for the slaughter of three American and two British civilians; James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig, David Haines and Alan Henning.
Alexandar Kotey (pictured left) and Shafee El-Sheikh (pictured right) may be sent to Guantanamo Bay as part of a new plan by President Trump to send captured ISIS fighters to Iraq and Cuba. They are currently being held in a prison in Syria by Syrian Democratic Forces which is struggling to contain the hundreds of ISIS fighters they have captured and continue their fight against the terror group
In July, Prime Minister Theresa May stripped the pair of their British citizenship and gave the US permission to execute the two men should they wish to.
They are currently being held in a Syrian prison along with around 600 other captured fighters by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
The rebel group does not have the resources to prosecute and imprison the fighters while continuing their fight against the terror group and the Syrian regime.
No other country will take them.
The pair were stripped of their British citizenship before they were captured by enemy forces on the battlefield.
US hostages James Foley (left), Steven Sotloff (center) and Peter Kassig (right) were all killed by the jihadists
British citizens Alan Henning (left) and David Haines (right) were also slaughtered by the group
Britain now wants the US to handle their prosecution because its ministers believe there is a higher chance of conviction and imprisonment in the American court system.
Democrats are opposed to the plan to send the pair to Guantanamo.
They say it could turn them into martyrs and they believe they should be tried in federal court, like any other defendant, rather than be held in Guantanamo where the US can keep them without ever sending them to trial.
Earlier this month, seven of the fighters were repatriated to Macedonia and eight were sent to Lebanon. The US officials said they fought for months for their home countries to accept responsibility of them but none would.
Tunisia has said it will take around 150 of them but it wants to be compensated. Kazakhstan has also expressed willingness to take on some of the fighters.
Sending them to Iraq would be a 'temporary solution' and would also prevent any other countries from having to go to Syria to collect them.
If they are sent to Guantanamo Bay (pictured), the two British jihadists may never see trial. Democrats do not want them at the Cuban prison and say instead they should be prosecuted through federal court in the US to ensure proper processes are followed
British Prime Minister Theresa May relinquished responsibility for the remaining Beatles terrorists and said she supported plans to let the US decide whether or not to execute them
According to the unnamed US officials, Iraq is yet to agree explicitly but the two countries are in talks about it.
The UK's decision earlier this summer to relinquish responsibility of the two men and not seek assurances for their life was described as 'rare' by British politicians.
The Prime Minister is yet to go on record to say unequivocally that she supports the two men being executed.
Instead, her representatives said only when asked that the UK does not, 'as a matter of principle', support capital punishment even though she supported the Home Secretary's plan to let the US decide whether or not to execute them.
Between them, the four terrorists slaughtered five Western hostages in videotaped beheadings which shocked the world and sent the fight against ISIS to the forefront of the world's agenda.
Foley, who was a journalist, was the first. He was killed by Emwazi in 2014.
WHO ARE THE ISIS BEATLES? JOHN, RINGO, GEORGE AND PAUL - THE FOUR BRITISH JIHADISTS RESPONSIBLE FOR SLAUGHTERING US AND BRITISH CIVILIANS
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