Islamic State 'Beatle' Pleads Guilty to Murder Charges
Voice of America
ALEXANDRIA, VA - Alexanda Kotey, a member of the notorious Islamic State kidnapping cell dubbed the "Beatles," pleaded guilty Thursday in a U.S. court to charges of conspiring to murder four American hostages.
The federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, outside Washington had posted a notice this week for a "change of plea" hearing for Kotey, a former British national and one of two kidnap cell members brought to the United States for trial. Kotey, 37, and El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, were flown from Iraq in October to face trial for involvement in the murders of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and relief workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller. After the two suspects were captured in January 2018 by Syrian Kurdish forces in Syria, they were turned over to U.S. forces in Iraq.A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's rocket launch during a news program at a bus terminal in Seoul, South Korea, May 27, 2024. FILE - Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks to reporters in Colombo, July 29, 2023. FILE - A TV screen shows a report of North Korea's spy satellite into orbit with its third launch attempt this year with an image of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 22, 2023.
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.