British National Pleads Guilty to Role in Terror Beheadings
Voice of America
ALEXANDRIA, VA - A British national admitted Thursday evening in a federal courtroom near the nation's capital that he played a leadership role in an Islamic State scheme to torture, hold for ransom and eventually behead American hostages.
Alexanda Anon Kotey, 37, pleaded guilty to all eight counts against him at a plea hearing in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. The charges include hostage-taking resulting in death and providing material support to the Islamic State group from 2012 through 2015. He admitted guilt in connection with the deaths of four American hostages -- journalist James Foley, journalist Steven Sotloff and aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller -- as well as European and Japanese nationals who also were held captive. Kotey is one of four Islamic State members who were dubbed “the Beatles” by their captives because of their British accents. He and another man, El Shafee Elsheikh, were brought to the U.S. last year to face charges after the U.S. assured Britain that neither man would face the death penalty.People walk past the entrance of the International Medical Corps American field hospital ahead of its evacuation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on June 2, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. Displaced Palestinians sit alongside their belongings in a van driving in al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip on June 2, 2024. People talk in front of a sign referring to hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 2, 2024. Palestinians use a path lined with destroyed buildings al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip on June 2, 2024.
This handout photo released on June 2, 2024 shows South Korean military officers check unidentified objects believed to be North Korean trash from balloons that crossed the inter-Korea border, on a street in Seoul. In this photo provided by Jeonbuk Fire Headquarters, balloons with trash presumably sent by North Korea, hang on electric wires as South Korean army soldiers stand guard in Muju, South Korea, May 29, 2024.