How four men from west London became the Isis ‘Beatles’
Last two members of British terror cell captured in Syria
Two British Islamic State fighters believed to be part of a four-man group nicknamed “The Beatles” have been captured in Syria.
Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh were arrested by US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, Sky News says. They are accused of detaining and executing Western hostages.
Aine Davis, the third member of the so-called Beatles cell - a name first used by their hostages, in a reference to their British accents - is serving seven years in a Turkish prison on terrorism charges. Mohammad Emwaz, better known as Jihadi John, was killed in a 2015 US air strike.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The capture of Kotey and Elsheikh “apparently brings to an end the grisly regime of fear led by the four young men”, The Daily Telegraph writes.
All four grew up in west London, and by all accounts, lived fairly standard lives before moving to the Middle East. So how did these seemingly ordinary young Brits become some of the most wanted men in the world?
Alexanda Kotey
Born in 1983, Kotey is half-Ghanaian, half-Greek Cypriot, and grew up in Shepherd’s Bush in a family of dress cutters. He was connected to the “London Boys” –a network of extremists linked to the July 2005 London bombings who fomented radical Islam while playing football in west London - and is believed to have converted to Islam in his early 20s, after falling in love with a Muslim woman, the Telegraph says.
According to BuzzFeed, Kotey “travelled to the Middle East alongside three other known extremists on a controversial aid convoy to Gaza”. Friends back in London said Kotey, now in his early 30s, has never contacted them since.
El Shafee Elsheikh
The 29-year-old British citizen grew up in a family who fled Sudan in the 1990s, The Independent reports.
Elsheikh supported Queens Park Rangers football team and worked as a fairground mechanic in London. His father, Rashid Sidahmed Elsheikh, described his radicalisation as “lightning fast”. He told the Daily Mail: “We tried to handle this in a mild, considerate way but before we could do anything, he just left.”
Elsheikh’s mother, Maha Elgizouli, told BuzzFeed that her “perfect” son was influenced by the sermons of Hani al-Sibai, a west London Islamist preacher who described the London bombings as a “great victory”. Elsheikh ran away to Syria to wage jihad in spring 2012, she says.
Aine Davis
Aine Davis, in his mid-30s, was “part of a worryingly familiar trend: the petty criminal who embraced violent jihad”, says the BBC.
The Guardian describes Davis as a former driver and drug dealer. In 2006, he was jailed for firearms possession after police smashed a gang supplying hundreds of weapons to the criminal underworld. Davis is believed to have become a Muslim while in prison, taking the Islamic name Hamza. He befriended Emwazi at a mosque in west London shortly before leaving for Syria.
Davis denied any involvement with Isis during his trial.
Mohammed “Jihadi John” Emwazi
Widely considered the leader of the four-man terror cell, Emwazi was born in Kuwait and moved to the UK in 1988, when he was six. He was educated in north London and graduated from computer programming at the University of Westminster in 2009. As a teenager, he seems to have been interested mainly in music, drinking alcohol and going to clubs, according to Robert Verkaik’s book, Jihadi John: The Making of a Terrorist.
Verkaik seems torn between two theories about Emwazi’s transformation, says Andrew Anthony in The Guardian. One is that he had a “pathological grievance” towards the British state after a surveillance campaign by the intelligence services. The other suggests he was a “practised liar and devoted jihadist all along”.
Preventing radicalisation
It is unclear whether all four men knew each other in Britain before leaving for Syria.
Despite floating his own ideas about Emwazi’s motivation, and about what the Government should do to prevent future Jihadi Johns, even Verkaik admits that there “as many reasons why someone turns to extremism as there are jihadists fighting in Syria”.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Long summer days in Iceland's highlands
The Week Recommends While many parts of this volcanic island are barren, there is a 'desolate beauty' to be found in every corner
By The Week UK Published
-
The Democrats: time for wholesale reform?
Talking Point In the 'wreckage' of the election, the party must decide how to rebuild
By The Week UK Published
-
5 deliciously funny cartoons about turkeys
Cartoons Artists take on pardons, executions, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?
Today's Big Question 'Rambling' message about 'bizarre' restriction joins series of recent decrees that amount to silencing of Afghanistan's women
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Cuba's energy crisis
The Explainer Already beset by a host of issues, the island nation is struggling with nationwide blackouts
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Putin's fixation with shamans
Under the Radar Secretive Russian leader, said to be fascinated with occult and pagan rituals, allegedly asked for blessing over nuclear weapons
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Chimpanzees are dying of human diseases
Under the radar Great apes are vulnerable to human pathogens thanks to genetic similarity, increased contact and no immunity
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies hang over Sydney's Mardi Gras
The Explainer Police officer, the former partner of TV presenter victim, charged with two counts of murder after turning himself in
By Austin Chen, The Week UK Published
-
Quiz of The Week: 24 February - 1 March
Puzzles and Quizzes Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will mounting discontent affect Iran election?
Today's Big Question Low turnout is expected in poll seen as crucial test for Tehran's leadership
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Sweden clears final NATO hurdle with Hungary vote
Speed Read Hungary's parliament overwhelmingly approved Sweden's accession to NATO
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published