One of the members of the Islamic State cell dubbed the Beatles is suspected of helping to organise a plot from Raqqa in Syria to shoot soldiers, police officers and civilians in London from the back of a moped.
Alexanda Kotey, who was captured at the start of this year by the Syrian Democratic Forces while apparently fleeing after the collapse of Isis, is alleged to have been one of the four members of the group of jihadist extremists who held British and other foreign nationals.
Members of the cell are accused of having beheaded prisoners including the British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, the US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and the US aid worker Peter Kassig.
Kotey’s alleged role in the London plot was revealed by ITV News on Friday and independently confirmed by the Guardian.
Details of the plot to kill British police and soldiers in drive-by shootings from a moped were set out at the Old Bailey two years ago. What is new is Kotey’s alleged involvement.
He is reported to have been in regular contact with Tarik Hassane, who was jailed in 2016 for his part in the plot along with Suhaib Majeed, a physics student at King’s College, London. Hassane and Majeed had access to a gun, silencer and ammunition from a criminal.
According to ITV, detectives working on the investigation have gathered enormous amounts of data, including commands sent by Isis fighters in Syria.
Kotey, who has had his passport revoked, could eventually end up being tried either in the US or the UK.
