Trump admin may send captured ISIS fighters to Iraq prison, Guantanamo

The front gate of "Camp Six" detention facility of the Joint Detention Group at the US Naval Station is shown on January 19, 2012 in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.Jim Watson / AFP - Getty Images

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is weighing a plan to send hundreds of captured ISIS fighters to an Iraqi prison after other countries refused to take them, and to send several of the highest-value fighters to the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, according to five U.S. officials and two European diplomats.

The possible Guantanamo detainees include two ISIS fighters who participated in the murder of Americans and other Western hostages, say five U.S. officials. Alexandar Amon Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh were members of a group of four jihadis dubbed "The Beatles" by observers because of their British accents.

Detainees sent to Iraq would be held in Iraqi prisons with Iraqi guards, but the U.S. might retain the right to prosecute them if they could not be sent to their home countries, said officials.

Democrats in Congress and human rights groups oppose sending new detainees to Guantanamo and say those ISIS fighters suspected of murdering Americans should be tried in federal court, where they could be held accountable instead of held indefinitely without 

Rojda Felat, a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander, waves her group's flag at the Al-Naim square in Raqa on October 17, 2017.Bulent Kilic / AFP - Getty Images file

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., worries that sending the militants to Guantanamo would potentially turn them into martyrs. She has called on the Trump administration to prosecute those suspected of killing Americans in federal civilian courts to ensure they face justice.

A spokesperson for Sen. Shaheen said she has advocated for the ISIS killers of journalist James Foley "to be tried in federal courts in accordance with the wishes of the Foley family."

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the Judiciary Committee, wants to see the two "Beatles" sent to Guantanamo as a temporary move before a possible trial in a civilian court in the U.S., a series of moves that would be prohibited under existing law.

The prisoners who may be destined for Iraq or Cuba would be drawn from a group of about 600 currently held by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in a rebel-controlled area of Syria, say the officials. Many of the detainees are foreign fighters, and range from foot soldiers plucked off the battlefield to the highest value detainees who were tracked and captured with help from the U.S. military.