Between the city of Liverpool, northwestern England, where the “Beatles” star shone with its four members, and West London, where the “Beatles” cell starred with its four elements, is more than a spatial coincidence, as the lights were shed 60 years ago on John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison and Ringo Starr, while today's spotlight is on John, Paul, George, Ringo and others who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and were accused of killing and detaining Western nationals in Syria.

With the British authorities announcing the arrest of the member of the "Beatles" cell, Ayn Davis, the file of this group will be closed after the arrest of 3 of its members and the killing of the fourth member.

Who is the Beatles cell?

And who are its members?

What are the charges against them?

And where are they now?

The mother of an American journalist who was kidnapped and killed by ISIS speaks before an American court in which Al-Shafei Al-Sheikh was tried (French)

The Beatles Cell

The name appeared - apparently - when some Western nationals found themselves in the hands of 4 armed individuals in Syria, speaking with an English accent and declaring their allegiance to the Islamic State.

At the time, the four British gunmen were likened - because of the English accent - to the Beatles, which consisted of 4 people, and the hostages gave each of the gunmen a name from the names of the Beatles, John, Paul, George and Ringo, and this spread when the media reported it.

The Beatles are accused of kidnapping 27 journalists and humanitarian workers from the United States, Britain, Europe, New Zealand, Russia and Japan.

They are also suspected of torturing and beheading American journalists James Foley and Stephen Sotloff, as well as humanitarian workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.

The Islamic State published propaganda videos showing their execution on social media.

Davis was arrested upon arrival at Luton Airport in northwest London (Shutterstock)

Ayn Davis (Paul)

On Wednesday, British authorities charged Ayn Leslie Davis, 38, a suspected member of the "Beatles" with terrorist crimes.

Police said in a statement issued on Thursday that Davis was arrested upon arrival at Luton Airport, northwest of London.

Several British media outlets, including the BBC, reported that he had arrived in Britain on a flight from Turkey, where he was serving a sentence of 7 and a half years in prison for terrorist crimes.

And the British Home Office said in another statement that a British citizen had been deported from Turkey to the United Kingdom.

"It would be inappropriate to release more information while the police are conducting their investigations," she added.

Davis grew up in Hammersmith, London, had a drug-related criminal record and was imprisoned in 2006 for possession of a firearm.

After his conversion to Islam, Davis changed his name to Hamza, got to know Muhammad Emwazi (one of the members of the cell), and together they belonged to an extremist group in London, then Davis left Britain and joined ISIS in 2013.

Davis was arrested in Turkey in November 2015 and imprisoned there for "acts of terrorism".

During his trial in Turkey, Davis said he knew Muhammad Emwazi because they were both praying at the same mosque in west London, but he denied that he was his friend or that he belonged to the cell he called "The Beatles".

In 2014, Davis' wife Amal al-Wahhabi became the first person in the UK to be convicted of financing Islamic State fighters, for attempting to send 20,000 euros to her husband in Syria.

During her trial, which led to her being imprisoned for 28 months, Davis was described as a drug dealer before heading to Syria.

A militant affiliated with the Islamic State, which the Washington Post identified as Muhammad Emwazi, a member of the "Beatles" cell (Reuters)

Mohamed Emwazi (John)

Born in Kuwait, his family moved to Britain when he was 6 years old in 1988. He studied computer programming at the University of Westminster, graduating in 2009.

Emwazi appeared masked in a number of videos depicting the hostages who would be killed. He was known as "Jihadi John", and the International Coalition against ISIS offered a $10 million reward for his arrest.

Emwazi was killed in a joint British-American operation by a drone strike in Syria in November 2015.

Alexanda Coty (Ringo)

He grew up in West London, has Ghanaian and Greek Cypriot ancestry, and used to pray in Al-Manar Mosque with Muhammad Emwazi.

And Kurdish forces arrested Koti in Syria in January 2018, along with Al-Shafei Al-Sheikh, and handed them over to US forces in Iraq before they were sent to Britain.

London eventually extradited them to the United States in 2020, where they are accused of taking hostages, plotting to kill American citizens and supporting a foreign terrorist organization.

Kotey pleaded guilty last September to the murder charge, and the following April he was sentenced to life imprisonment, and Britain stripped him of his citizenship.

In September 2021, Coty pleaded guilty to the murders of Foley, Sotloff, Mueller and Kassig.

Last April, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Al-Sheikh was convicted of all charges last April and will be sentenced this month (Reuters)

Shafei Sheikh (George)

The son of a Sudanese refugee, he went to Syria in 2012 before joining al-Qaeda, then joined the Islamic State.

The hostages called him "Jihadi George", and said that they were under his watch most of the time, and that he carried out most of the torture.

He was arrested by Kurdish forces in Syria with Alexanda Kotey, and they were handed over to US forces in Iraq before being sent to Britain.

London then extradited them to the United States in 2020, where they are accused of kidnapping and killing 4 American hostages in Syria, and of supporting a foreign terrorist organization.

The sheikh was convicted of all charges last April and will be sentenced later this August, and he was stripped of his British citizenship in 2018.

The sheikh chose to remain silent throughout this trial, the first of its kind against the organization in the United States.

Through his lawyer, he admitted that he joined the ranks of ISIS, but he denied being a member of the "Beatles" cell.

Al-Sheikh's lawyers say the killings were planned and carried out by Emwazi on the orders of the ISIS leadership.