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Islamic State 'Beatles' charged with hostage-taking of Americans

The charges against El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey include hostage-taking resulting in death and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.
Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers(C) of the National Security Division, FBI Director Christopher Wray(2ndR),US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia G. Zachary Terwilliger(L) and Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office James A. Dawson(R) host a press conference on a national security matter at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, on October 7, 2020. - Two members of an Islamic State cell dubbed the "Beatles" accused of killing several Western hostages a

Two Islamic State members linked to the kidnapping of four slain Americans will stand trial in the United States for hostage-taking and terrorism-related charges, the Justice Department announced Wednesday, in what the families of victims said was “the first step in the pursuit of justice.” 

British nationals El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, whom their captives nicknamed the "Beatles" for their accents, make up half of the notorious Islamic State cell that the US government has tied to the murder of more than two dozen hostages, including American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and American aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller. 

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