One of the four men collectively known as the ISIS “Beatles” who terrorised their captives before ultimately beheading them in the Syrian desert has been sentenced to life in prison by a US court.
Alexanda Kotey, 38, is one of two ISIS members who were held in Iraq by the American military before being flown to the US in 2020 to face trial on terrorism charges.
Kotey pleaded guilty to eight charges in a US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia and was handed eight life sentences on Friday.
As part of his plea deal, he will spend 15 years in US custody and, if certain conditions are met, will then be transferred to Britain to serve out the rest of his sentence.
The group, known as "Beatles" due to their English accents, was said to be made up of ringleader Mohammed Emwazi, also known as "Jihadi John", Aine Davis, El Shafee Elsheikh and Kotey, and was responsible for the brutal killings of a number of western captives, believed to include Britons Alan Henning and David Haines.
US court documents show that the group was responsible for capturing and killing four American citizens: journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig.
Kotey faced charges that included hostage-taking resulting in death and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.
The charges against Kotey, and his co-accused Elsheikh, who was convicted after trial this month, only feature US victims. Families of those murdered by the terror cell will address the judge on Friday about their collective loss.
Elsheikh is expected to be sentenced at a later date.
The four assassins played an outsized role in ISIS and featured heavily in the terror group's propaganda.
"They were used as examples of how the group could turn the these western citizens against their country and against their societies," said Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, research director at the Programme on Extremism at George Washington University.
Who are the ISIS Beatles?
The ringleader Emwazi, or Jihadi John, is thought to be the man, clad in black battle fatigues, who beheaded Foley and others.
Emwazi was killed by a Hellfire drone strike in Raqqa, Syria, in November 2015.
Emwazi was born in Kuwait and grew up in west London, graduating from the University of Westminster in 2009.
The group's “Paul” was Davis, a British convert to Islam with convictions for drugs and possession of a firearm.
He was arrested in Turkey in 2015 and in 2017, he was sentenced to seven and half years in prison for being a member of a terrorist group.
Elsheikh was born in Sudan but grew up in London. He was captured along with Kotey in January 2018 by the Syrian Democratic Forces, while fleeing the collapsing “caliphate” in Syria.
While in US custody, both Elsheikh and Kotey were stripped of their UK citizenship.
Earlier in April, Elsheikh was found guilty of eight charges “relating to his participation in a brutal hostage-taking scheme that resulted in the deaths of four American citizens, as well as the deaths of British and Japanese nationals, in Syria”, the US Justice Department said in a statement.
While capital punishment is legal in the US, the department struck a deal with the British government to take the death penalty off of the table. Elsheikh faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison and will be sentenced in August.
Kotey chose not to stand trial in the US, instead pleading guilty to all eight counts he faced, which included “hostage taking resulting in the deaths of four Americans".
'Hidden gems' of information during trial
Elsheikh and Kotey being brought to justice in the US was seen as a major win for the families of the victims.
The trial of Elsheikh was also filled with “hidden gems” of information for those who study ISIS and extremism in general.
“Their cases are incredibly important because of the information that comes out at trial,” said Nessma Bashi, a legal officer at the Syrian Justice and Accountability Centre, who monitored the trial.
Ms Bashi said witness evidence from the trial may help her organisation discover the graves of missing and unaccounted for Syrian victims of ISIS.
“One of the witnesses described how he was held in a prison with a small window and as he looked out the window on one side, you could see the Euphrates River,” said Ms Bashi, who hoped the information would lead to the location of graves.
According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, there are more than 8,143 cases of people detained by ISIS whose fates remain unknown.
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 720hp
Torque: 770Nm
Price: Dh1,100,000
On sale: now
Read more from Aya Iskandarani
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EScott%20Beck%2C%20Bryan%20Woods%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAdam%20Driver%2C%20Ariana%20Greenblatt%2C%20Chloe%20Coleman%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
The%20Hunger%20Games%3A%20The%20Ballad%20of%20Songbirds%20%26%20Snakes
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%C2%A0Francis%20Lawrence%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3ERachel%20Zegler%2C%20Peter%20Dinklage%2C%20Viola%20Davis%2C%20Tom%20Blyth%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Types of fraud
Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
* Nada El Sawy
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Carzaty%2C%20now%20Kavak%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECarzaty%20launched%20in%202018%2C%20Kavak%20in%20the%20GCC%20launched%20in%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20140%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Automotive%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECarzaty%20raised%20%246m%20in%20equity%20and%20%244m%20in%20debt%3B%20Kavak%20plans%20%24130m%20investment%20in%20the%20GCC%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Results
6.30pm: The Madjani Stakes (PA) Group 3 Dh175,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner: Aatebat Al Khalediah, Fernando Jara (jockey), Ali Rashid Al Raihe (trainer).
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Down On Da Bayou, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
7.40pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Dubai Avenue, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: My Catch, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
8.50pm: Dubai Creek Mile (TB) Listed Dh265,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Secret Ambition, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Golden Goal, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
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