(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. won't seek the death penalty for two Islamic State terrorists believed to have been involved in the killing of American journalist James Foley if the U.K. agrees to provide evidence necessary for their prosecution in America, Attorney General William Barr said.
The U.S. is seeking the evidence to prosecute El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, who are currently in American military custody at an undisclosed location. The two men are alleged to have been part of a terrorist cell known as “the Beatles” that kidnapped and murdered journalists and aid workers from the U.S. and U.K. as members of the Islamic State of Iraq.
“Time is of the essence,” Barr wrote in a letter Wednesday to Britain's Home Secretary Priti Patel. “Further delay is no longer possible if Kotey and Elsheikh are to be tried in the United States, and further delay is an injustice to the families of the victims.”
Kotey and Elsheikh were previously stripped of their U.K. citizenship. The U.S. will transfer them to Iraq for prosecution in the Iraqi justice system if the U.K. doesn't provide the necessary evidence by Oct. 15, Barr said.
“It is not tenable to continue holding them” abroad “for an extended period,” Barr wrote. “Final decisions must be made about this matter.”
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