BRITISH PRIME MINISTER David Cameron has confirmed the ‘brutal murder’ of aid worker Alan Henning by the Islamic State group and vowed to bring his killers to justice.
In a statement released by his Downing Street office, Cameron said:
“The brutal murder of Alan Henning by ISIL (another term for IS jihadists) shows just how barbaric and repulsive these terrorists are.
We will do all we can to hunt down these murderers and bring them to justice.
An internet video shows an Islamic State group fighter beheading the British hostage while threatening another American captive.
It’s the fourth such killing carried out by the extremist group now targeted in U.S.-led airstrikes.
The video mirrored other beheading videos shot by the Islamic State group, which now holds territory along the border of Syria and Iraq. It ended with an Islamic State fighter threatening a man they identified as an American named Peter Kassig.
Two U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of concerns of not having permission to release the information, confirmed that Peter Kassig is being held by Islamic State militants. The officials declined to elaborate.
The masked militant in the video said:
Obama, you have started your aerial bombardment of Shams (Syria), which keeps on striking our people, so it is only right that we continue to strike the neck of your people.
Britain has been supporting U.S. military efforts against the Islamic State group by using British forces to help with logistics and intelligence gathering, as well as recently taking part in airstrikes in Iraq.
This is the fourth such video released by the Islamic State group. The full beheadings are not shown in the videos, but the British-accented, English-speaking militant holds a long knife and appears to begin cutting the three men, American reporter James Foley, American-Israeli journalist Steven Sotloff and British aid worker David Haines.
Gadget
Henning, 47, nicknamed “Gadget,” had joined an aid convoy and was taken captive on December 26, shortly after crossing the border between Turkey and Syria.
Earlier this week, Henning’s wife Barbara Henning asked the militants in a televised plea:
Please release him. We need him back home.
Dozens of Muslim leaders in Britain have urged the Islamic State group to release Henning. His wife had said she had been given hope by “the outcry across the world” over her husband’s imprisonment.
Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, a Muslim charity, called Henning “a British hero.”
His “barbaric killing is an attack against all decent people around the world,” Shafiq said.
Additional reporting by AFP.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say