Isis 'Beatles' El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey challenge government on proposed US extradition

'I have many regrets, not just being here but previous to coming here,' Alexanda Kotey says. 'I have my regrets, not about coming to Syria'

British Isis militants Alexanda Kotey (left) and El Shafee Elsheikh in Syrian Democratic Forces custody (Reuters)

A pair of Britons believed to be members of a notorious Isis cell nicknamed “the Beatles” have challenged the government’s attempts to have them extradited and tried in the US.

El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey are currently being held in solitary confinement in a Syrian jail, but their future remains unclear.

Originally from London, the pair were declared “Specially Designated Global Terrorists” by the US State Department ahead of their capture in January.

Documents named them as members of the “the Beatles” and saying the cell had beheaded more than 27 hostages and tortured many more.

Surviving captives have told of their brutality, which included torture, waterboarding, electric shocks, mock executions and crucifixions.

Last month, the UK government said it would demand no “assurances” that the pair will not receive the death penalty if they are tried in the US – a decision questioned by Elsheikh.

“What makes the British government want a British citizen to be tried in America? Like what’s behind it?” he told the BBC.

Asked about the government’s decision to revoke their UK citizenship, he replied: “That has not been confirmed.”

However, security minister Ben Wallace did confirm it in the House of Commons last month.

Both denied they were members of “the Beatles”, but Elsheikh declined to say what the pair were doing in Syria.

“As for specific details as to what I was doing whilst I was living in IS-controlled territories, it’s a question I would decline to answer at this present stage for legal reasons,” he said.

Kotey added: “I have many regrets, not just being here but previous to coming here. I have my regrets, not about coming to Syria.”

Last month The Home Office was forced to suspend a “mutual legal assistance” (MLA) agreement it struck with American authorities over the pair.

Elsheikh’s mother is attempting to launch a judicial review of Home Secretary Sajid Javid’s unprecedented decision not to seek assurances that the death penalty would not be used when he handed over British intelligence.

The Home Office pledged to stop any further assistance to US prosecutors until a court determines whether the legal action will progress.

But British authorities may have already sent over the bulk of material from a four year counterterror investigation into Kotey and Elsheikh to their American counterparts, who may be able to progress regardless of the challenge.