BRITAIN SHOULD HAVE DONE MORE TO FREE ALAN HENNING

Alan Henning failed by British government, brother-in-law says

Colin Livesey says government could have done more to save Henning and David Haines, whom Isis beheaded last month

Chris Johnston, Saturday, October 4th

The British government should have done more to free Alan Henning, the aid worker murdered by Islamic State (Isis) fighters in Syria, his brother-in-law has said.

Colin Livesey’s anger came as Barbara Henning and her children Lucy and Adam said they were “numb with grief” after the extremist group released a video on Friday night purportedly showing the beheading of the Briton.

“On behalf of the entire family, I want to thank everyone who campaigned for Alan’s release, who held vigils to pray for his safe return, and who condemned those who took him,” a statement issued on Saturday afternoon read.

“Your efforts were a great support to us, and we take comfort in knowing how many people stood beside us in hoping for the best.

“Alan was a decent, caring human being. His interest was in the welfare of others. He will be remembered for this and we as a family are extremely proud of him and what he achieved and the people he helped. We now need time to come to terms with our loss.”

David Cameron vowed to use “all the assets we have’’ to hunt down the Isis militants responsible for Henning’s “senseless’’ murder.

After talks with the security services and Foreign Office officials on Saturday at his country residence, the prime minister said the beheading made it clear there was “no level of depravity” to which Isis would not sink.

“It is senseless. It is complete unforgivable. Anyone in any doubt about this organisation can now see how truly repulsive it is and barbaric it is.

“This is going to be our struggle now, that with others we must do everything we can to defeat this organisation. We must take action against it and we must find those responsible.”

Livesey, the brother of Barbara Henning, said he was angry that the government had failed to take more action. “They could have done more when they knew about it months and months ago,” he told the BBC.

He described Henning’s killers as “scum” and said the family had lost a great person.

“My heart’s just sunk to a level that I never thought it could do. I’m just devastated for my sister and two kids for what they’ve gone through, and it’s so hard,” he said. “We’re all just saddened knowing that we’ve lost a great person in our family.”

Of Henning’s killers, Livesey said: “I just hope and pray they get what’s coming to them. I’ve just so much hatred for them.”

He also said not enough was done to save fellow Briton David Haines, another aid worker whom Isis beheaded last month. “I just don’t think they did enough in my eyes,” he said.

Cameron called Henning a man of great peace, kindness and gentleness.

“He went with many Muslim friends out to do no more than simply help other people. His Muslim friends will be mourning him at this special time of Eid and the whole country is mourning with them.”

The prime minister’s comments were echoed by Nick Clegg, his deputy and the Liberal Democrat leader, who said Isis was “twisting … religion to its own end”.

“If you are doing this to intimidate us, you won’t. If you are doing this to break our resolve, you won’t. If you are doing this to drag us into a religious war on your terms, you won’t,” he said.

“What we in Britain will do instead in a calm and determined way is to play our role to hunt you down and to rid the world of this barbaric violence. What Isil is doing is sick and twisted and they will not win.”

The US ambassador to Britain, Matthew Barzun, said on Saturday: “Today, we stand with the UK in joint determination, resolve and commitment to achieve justice for Alan Henning.”

Barack Obama earlier condemned Henning’s murder and said that Washington, along with its allies, would continue to take action to destroy Isis. “Henning worked to help improve the lives of the Syrian people and his death is a great loss for them, for his family and the people of the United Kingdom,” the US president said on Friday night.

“Standing together with our UK friends and allies, we will work to bring the perpetrators of Alan’s murder, as well as the murders of Jim Foley, Steven Sotloff and David Haines, to justice. Standing together with a broad coalition of allies and partners, we will continue taking decisive action to degrade and ultimately destroy Isil.”

Henning is the fourth western hostage Isis has killed, following the filmed beheadings of the US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and the Scottish aid worker David Haines.

A further hostage, Hervé Gourdel, from Nice in France, was murdered by Jund al-Khalifa, a group with links to Isis, on 24 September.

Henning’s murder came after the UK launched air strikes against Isis, joining the US and its Arab allies – Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE – which had been targeting the group for several days.

Shortly before the Ministry of Defence announced that the RAF had attacked two Isis targets, the Foreign Office arranged for Barbara Henning to make a televised appeal for his release.

In the video, entitled Another Message to America and Its Allies, a masked man stands behind Henning, who is kneeling. Henning says: “I am Alan Henning. Because of our parliament’s decision to attack the Islamic State, I – as a member of the British public – will now pay the price for that decision.”

A voice then says: “The blood of David Haines was on your hands, Cameron. Alan Henning will also be slaughtered, but his blood is on the hands of the British parliament.”

It ends with a threat to a fifth hostage, an US citizen named by his captors as Peter Edward Kassig.

Henning, 47, a taxi driver from Eccles, Greater Manchester, had been held captive in Syria for nine months, and is thought to have been held by Isis with up to 20 other western hostages for much of that time.

Intelligence agencies on both sides of the Atlantic are studying the video of his killing, which was released on the eve of the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha.

A Downing Street spokesman said Cameron had also raised a second video, also released on Friday night, at a meeting with the intelligence agencies, the military and the Foreign Office at Chequers on Saturday. The clip shows an apparent British Isis fighter unmasked delivering a further message.

He added: “The police are urgently investigating the contents of the video, including possible terrorism offences relating to it.”

In the video the bespectacled man, dressed in camouflage fatigues, insults Cameron and challenges western governments to send ground forces, urging them to “send all your forces”, claiming Isis would “send them all back in coffins”.