Clegg statement
Clegg tweets statements:
Sincere condolences to Alan Henning’s family. Barbaric actions of ISIL are held in complete contempt. We are resolved to defeat this evil.
Alan Henning was a man moved to selflessly help those most in need and we should remember that above all else at this difficult time.
— Nick Clegg (@nickclegg) October 3, 2014
Cameron statement
Cameron releases a statement:
The brutal murder of Alan Henning by Isil shows just how barbaric and repulsive these terrorists are. My thoughts and prayers tonight are with Alan’s wife Barbara, their children and all those who loved him. Alan had gone to Syria to help get aid to people of all faiths in their hour of need. The fact that he was taken hostage when trying to help others and now murdered demonstrates that there are no limits to the depravity of these Isil terrorists. We will do all we can to hunt down these murderers and bring them to justice.
Foreign Office statement
The Foreign Office releases a statement:
We are aware of the video and are working urgently to verify the contents. If true, this is a further disgusting murder. We are offering the family every support possible; they ask to be left alone at this time.
Full statement
Barbara Henning’s full statement to ISISs via the Foreign Office is released:
Second part of Barbara Henning's statement pic.twitter.com/rDz934CQ9P
— Stuart Millar (@stuartmillar159) September 23, 2014
‘Al Qaeda requested Henning’s release’
U.S. journalist Bilal Abdul Kareem, a film-maker who has reported extensively from Syria, says he interviewed a commander of the Al-Nusra Front, the Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda, who confronted ISIS to demand the release of Henning. Kareem says ‘anyone of any influence,’ including Al Qaeda, has sought to intervene on behalf of Haines, as he was a volunteer seeking to help Muslim refugees in the town of Dana and his abduction is ‘wrong under Islamic law’:
Four days after he was captured, the emir went to Al-Dana and said: ‘Look, what you are doing is wrong. You have no business what you are doing. You have no right to abduct him. You have no reason to detain him just because he is not Muslim’.
There were initial hopes that Henning would be released:
But then Henning was removed from his prison in Al-Dana and never heard of again.
‘Dedicated to Syria cause’
The organizer of the British volunteer convoy that Henning was traveling with when he was kidnapped by ISIS militants says that he was dedicated to aid work in Syria. Bolton aid worker Kasim Jameel:
Alan is an amazing guy. He is the best of the best. He is my best friend and I am praying for him. He loved the cause so much that when he went to Turkey on holiday with his family, he had a big tattoo across his arm saying ‘aid for Syria’ – he was that dedicated. The cause had literally changed his life around – it meant that much to him.