Hostages held captive by an ISIS group in Syria were forced to sing a twisted take on the Eagles’ “Hotel California” called “Hotel Osama,” a former prisoner revealed in testimony this week.
Journalist Nicholas Henin recounted the terrifying conditions of those held captive during the terrorism trial of former British citizen El Shafee Elsheik, 33, — an alleged member of a sadistic ISIS group nicknamed “The Beatles” because of their accents.
“Hotel Osama” included a lyric saying “you will never leave,” Henin testified on Wednesday, according to the BBC.
“If you try, you’ll die / Mr. Bigley style,” the lyrics continued, CBS News said. Bigley is a reference to Kenneth Bigley, a British engineer beheaded by al Qaeda in Iraq in 2004.
“It was terrifying for us, a joke for them,” Henin said about the US forces.
Elsheik is assumed to be one of the three masked “Beatles” that were involved in kidnapping schemes and tortured and beat more than 20 prisoners. The group beheaded four Americans and videotaped their gruesome murders.
Journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff were killed, as were aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig.
El Shafee Elsheikh is on trial and assumed to be one of the three masked “Beatles” that were involved in kidnapping schemes and tortured and beat at least 20 prisoners. Alexandria Sheriff's Office via APElsheikh is believed to be the man nicknamed “Ringo,” who was known to preach about the reason for their imprisonment.
“They were trying to explain to us that even though we were not carrying weapons, we were still somehow a kind of fighter in the war between the infidel West and Islam,” said Henin, one of the former captives testifying in the trial which has so far lasted two weeks.
Kassig’s father, Ed Kassig, read a letter penned by his son in 2014 while still a prisoner.
The “Beatles” beheaded four Americans and videotaped their gruesome murders. YouTube.com“Dad, I’m paralyzed here,” he wrote to his dad in the letter, which was delivered through a fellow captive. “I’m afraid to fight back. Part of me still has hope. Part of me is sure I’m going to die.”
Elsheikh is facing charges including conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping.
Another member of the ISIS cell, Mohammed Emwazi aka “Jihadi John,” was killed in a US drone strike in 2015.
Ed Kassig, left, read a letter written to him by Peter in which he expressed his suspicions he would be killed. AFP via Getty ImagesAlexanda Koety, a “Beatles” member who was flown to the US to face trial alongside Elsheikh, pleaded guilty to the murders of the Americans and faces life behind bars.
With Post wires
