He is suspected of having been part of the “Beatles”. A particularly vicious cell of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, which specializes in the capture, torture and execution of Western hostages. The man has been charged with multiple terrorism offenses following his arrest in the UK, police said on Thursday.
Aine Leslie Davis, 38, was arrested at London Luton Airport from Turkey and is due to appear in court at Westminster Magistrates Court in the morning, Scotland Yard said in a statement. Arrested in Turkey in November 2015, he has since been imprisoned there for acts of terrorism.
A British accent and almost thirty kidnappings
The four members of The Beatles, so-called because of their British accents, are accused of kidnapping at least 27 journalists and humanitarian workers from the US, UK, Europe, New Zealand, Russia and Japan.
They are also suspected of torturing and killing, including by beheading, American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and humanitarian workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller. IS had posted propaganda videos on social media showing their executions. Two of the “Beatles”, Alexanda Kotey, 38, and El Shafee Elsheikh, 34, former British nationals, were arrested by Kurdish militia in Syria in January 2018 and handed over to US forces in Iraq before being sent to the UK.
financing of terrorism
They were eventually extradited to the United States, to Virginia, in 2020 on charges of taking hostages, conspiring to kill American citizens and supporting a foreign terrorist organization. Alexanda Kotey pleaded guilty to his part in the killings in September and was sentenced to life in prison in April. Shafee Elsheikh was convicted on all charges in April and will be sentenced next week.
The fourth “Beatles” hangman, Mohamed Emwazi, was killed by a US drone in Syria in 2015. In 2014, Aine Leslie Davis’ wife, Amal El-Wahabi, became the first person in the UK to be convicted of funding jihadists from the EI for attempting to wire €20,000 to her husband in Syria. During her trial, after which she was jailed for 28 months, Aine Leslie Davis was portrayed as a drug dealer before she left for Syria.