A member of the ISIS Beatles gang has revealed he saved Jihadi John's life before he went on to execute Western hostages.

Alexanda Kotey, also known as Ringo, had allowed fellow Brit Jihadi John to rise in the ISIS ranks, becoming the caliphate's executioner, by saving his life on the battle field.

Kotey, 35, has now revealed all about his friendship with fellow Londoner Mohammed Emwazi, in a shocking jail confession.

Kotey also admitted to having a family living in Syria with whom he wants to live in the UK, despite having been stripped of his citizenship.

He has a wife, and three girls, aged five, three and one and is hopeful of one day seeing them again.

He said: 'As far as I'm concerned I'm British and I'll remain British'.



Alexanda Kotey (pictured above) spoke of how Jihadi John had been his friend and that he was extremely emotional when he learnt of his friends death

Jihadi John (pictured above) holding a knife and gesturing as he speaks to the camera before beheading writer Steven Sotloff

Both Kotey and Emwazi had been in a terror cell dubbed The Beatles by their prisoners in Syria, Emwazi had been nicknamed John and Kotey, Ringo.

Speaking to The Mirror, Kotey recalled how Emwazi killed a host of innocent victims, but that it didn't change his opinion on him because the killings actually only made up 'two minutes of his life'.

During the interview he is said to have got extremely emotional, admitting he wept when his friend was killed by a drone strike in November 2015.

He highlighted how he had originally saved Emwazi after he was shot by the Free Syrian Army in Aleppo in 2014.

He said: 'We were in the Aleppo countryside surrounded by Free Syrian Army factions and they'd taken the nearby town from us. We had been told to regain it and attacked.

'We were attacking from a group of olive groves and tried to cut across an open field. He was in front of me. I was fighting alongside Emwazi. We got just half way and came under fire. We both went down and he was shot.

'He was lying there. The bullet had hit him in the back at an angle and we managed to roll into cover.'

Kotey said he held him in his lap and thought he was about to breath his last breath.

'I struggled with him and got him into a car and we rushed him to a makeshift hospital and he survived.'

Kotey said Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (pictured above) had ordered many of the be-headings of Western hostages

Then months later, and back to full health, Emwazi caused terror when he appeared in a series of internet videos beheading Western hostages.

Kotey is currently imprisoned outside Raqqa, and restrictions were put in place during the interview as to what could be revealed.

The 35-year-old also revealed he abused Western prisoners before they were beheaded and that he regrets joining ISIS.

When asked if he ever beheaded anyone, he said: 'I can't say to be honest… I can't say I agree with it and I don't know what I would do in that situation…

'Obviously if there was a gun put to my head, I definitely… I wouldn't know… I would do.'

At present the US State Department has classed him as a 'designated terrorist' who 'likely engaged in the group's executions and exceptionally cruel torture methods'.

He admits he was a recruiter, and had been responsible for recruiting UK nationals to join the organisation.

Despite actively recruiting for the group, he said he regretted 'becoming a jihadi' and now wants to return to the UK.

Alexanda Kotey (left) and El Shafee Elsheikh (right) confessed to helping the terror group ransom western captives back to their families

However he also spoke of his bond with Emwazi, and how it had been forged growing up in the Ladbroke Grove area of London.

The pair had both previously been linked to the 'London Boys' network of extremists, who were known to trade essays on Islam.

In 2012 the pair traveled to Syria together. Then as thugs took grip in the region, Emwazi become involved in executions and was shown beheading Westerners in 2014.

Kotey said he privately objected to the films, but remained friends with Emwazi. They were such good friends that even their wives grew close and stayed in touch.

Kotey had been at IS 'sniper school' when he heard the news of his friends death.

He said: 'I cried. I was completing my sniper training in the Hama area [in the west of the country].

'We'd done the theory, this was the practical. We were living in caves because there was a lot of bombardments at the time.

'I asked the person in charge of snipers if I could be allowed to return to Raqqa to check out news about a friend and he allowed me to go.

'I didn't tell him who he was. I didn't like to make it known I had that ­relationship. Emwazi himself was not known – I mean that he was the person behind the mask.'

He said many people were not aware his friend had been killed.

'I cried and decided to stay at home for while and not speak to anybody. I don't think anyone dared to go to his funeral except people in the hospital and the ones who buried him.'

Due to various videos and media statements, Jihadi John's status grew – and with this he became more remote, having being warned he was a target for the CIA.

One of his first victims had been US journalist James Foley, who was held with a number of other Western hostages.

James Foley (pictured above) had been one of Jihadi John's first victims when he was beheaded by the militant

A video released in August 2014 saw him being killed, and was followed by the killings of Alan Henning, Peter Kassig and Steven Sotloff.

Two Japanese civilians were also murdered.

This is while UK journalist John Cantlie survived the initial executions, but was later feared to have been killed in Mosul.

Speaking of the level of secrecy around location, Kotey said Emwazi wouldn't of even been able to contact his wife during that period.

Aid worker Alan Henning (pictured above with a young child ) was also killed by Jihadi John

'We didn't know where his house was because at the beginning of the beheadings he moved. Whenever he wanted to visit he'd come to our house.

'He never gave his location. I didn't find out where he lived until he was killed. He was not far from me.'

Speaking about his friendship with Emwazi, he said it would be difficult for someone else to understand the dynamics of the relationship.

'I was there when he got married, I held his baby. I held him when he was shot and taking what I thought to be his last breath and he was passed out on my lap. When you go through ­experiences like that with someone...'

Despite showing a strong emotional connection to Emwazi, Kotey was aware that her alliance with friend may not do him any favours.

'I didn't have a lot of interaction with him to be honest, to say if he changed as a person in Syria. I guess he took on more of a persona of ­leadership or someone who had a whole different level of responsibility.

'I understood from him there were things he didn't agree with but the difference between him and others was that he was prepared to be obedient towards the leadership.'

During the interview Kotey admitted that instructions to behead hostages had come from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and said that Emwazi had met him.

Probed about his feelings on the beheading videos he said: 'It's not something I give a lot of thought about – when I think about him, what he done, despite my disagreement with what he done.

'It's not something that overshadows my memories of him. They were very short. They were powerful messages but they were very short, two minutes of his life.'

'I can't, erm, honestly turn a blind eye to them.'