ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — Two extremists from the Daesh (so-called IS) group, who were part of a terror cell nicknamed ‘The Beatles’ due to their British accents, have pleaded not guilty before a judge in the US.

The British militants are facing charges of murder over the execution of a number of Western hostages in Syria, where they are accused of taking part in a campaign of torture, beheadings and other acts of violence.

Alexanda Kotey, 36, and El Shafee El-Sheikh, 32, appeared via video link before a judge in Alexandria, Virginia, and pleaded not guilty through their lawyers.

The two militants, who are from Britain but have been stripped of their citizenship, were indicted by a grand jury earlier this week for the kidnapping and murder of four Americans: journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and humanitarians Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig.

James Foley and Steven Steven Sotloff were murdered in staged propaganda videos. On Friday both men pleaded not guilty through their lawyers and asked to be tried by a jury.

"I wish to set up a trial as soon as possible," but "time is needed to ensure justice is done in this case," said the judge Justice TS Ellis II in setting the next hearing for Jan. 15.

The two suspects were transferred from Iraq to the United States on Wednesday and held in a secret location in Virginia.

The group's most prominent figure was Mohammed Emwazi, nicknamed "Jihadi John. He was killed in a US bombing of Syria in November 2015.

Kotey and El-Sheikh were captured in January 2018 by Kurdish forces in Syria and then placed under US military control in Iraq in October 2019. The fourth, Aine Davis, is imprisoned in Turkey. — Euronews