El Shafee Elsheikh seeks UK transfer, victims' families react

El Shafee Elsheikh, a former member of the Islamic State cell known as the Beatles who is serving eight consecutive life sentences in a high security US prison, has applied to be transferred to Britain, a move that has prompted anger from the families of his victims and renewed political debate over citizenship and prisoner transfers. US authorities notified victims' relatives of the application and gave them a statutory period to submit objections, according to a US notice seen by reporters.

Elsheikh, 37, was convicted in 2022 by a federal jury in Virginia on charges including hostage taking and conspiracy to murder. He was sentenced to eight life terms without parole for his role in the torture and killings of hostages held by the cell between 2013 and 2015, convictions that followed his capture by Kurdish-led forces in Syria in 2018. The cell was responsible for the murders of several Western hostages, including journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning. Another prominent member, Mohammed Emwazi, known as Jihadi John, was killed in a 2015 drone strike.

According to the US notice, Elsheikh applied under the International Prisoner...