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Tributes paid to British hostage believed killed in Nigeria Tributes paid to British hostage believed killed in Nigeria
(about 2 hours later)
Tributes have been paid to a British construction worker feared to have been executed by Islamist hostage-takers in Nigeria on Saturday.Tributes have been paid to a British construction worker feared to have been executed by Islamist hostage-takers in Nigeria on Saturday.
The foreign secretary, William Hague, said on Sunday that Brendan Vaughan was "likely to have been killed at the hands of his captors" along with six other foreign workers in "an unforgiveable act of pure cold-blooded murder".The foreign secretary, William Hague, said on Sunday that Brendan Vaughan was "likely to have been killed at the hands of his captors" along with six other foreign workers in "an unforgiveable act of pure cold-blooded murder".
The announcement followed 24 hours of uncertainty after the al-Qaida-affiliated Nigerian Islamist group Ansaru released an image online of what appeared to be several dead bodies. Vaughan, who was working for the Lebanese construction company Setraco, was abducted with colleagues from Greece, Italy and Lebanon on 16 February. The al-Qaida-affiliated Nigerian Islamist group Ansaru has posted a video online showing what appears to be several dead bodies but a police spokesman in Nigeria said they could still not confirm whether the hostages were dead.
No further details about Vaughan have been released but the construction worker, originally from Leeds, appears to have started a new life in Thailand with girlfriend Orasa Arpornkaew. Tributes were posted to him on Facebook, including from Arpornkaew, who wrote: "Your always in my heart. A friend, Dom Cooney, posted: "cant believe it. he was like an ox." Vaughan, who was working for the Lebanese construction company Setraco, was abducted with colleagues from Greece, Italy and Lebanon on 16 February.
No further details about Vaughan have been released but the construction worker, originally from Leeds, appears to have started a new life in Thailand with girlfriend Orasa Arpornkaew. Tributes were posted to him on Facebook, including from Arpornkaew, who wrote: "Your always in my heart." A friend, Dom Cooney, posted: "cant believe it. he was like an ox."
Vaughan's Facebook page includes details of where he was working in Nigeria and photos of armed protection guards at his compound.Vaughan's Facebook page includes details of where he was working in Nigeria and photos of armed protection guards at his compound.
Four Lebanese construction workers were also killed as well as an Italian and a Greek. An intelligence source in the Nigerian capital Abuja named the Italian as Silvano Trevisan, adding that he had been suffering from hypertension and heart problems. Four Lebanese construction workers were also killed as well as an Italian and a Greek. An intelligence source in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, named the Italian as Silvano Trevisan, adding that he had been suffering from hypertension and heart problems.
A silent video posted on the internet by Ansaru dated 9 March shows a gunman standing next to a pile of bodies, followed by a series of closeups of their faces lit up by a torch. It is entitled in Arabic "The Killing of the seven Christian hostages in Nigeria." A caption underneath says in Arabic and in English: "In the name of Allah Most Beneficient Most Merciful". A silent video posted on the internet by Ansaru dated 9 March shows a gunman standing next to a pile of bodies, followed by a series of closeups of their faces lit up by a torch. It is entitled in Arabic: "The Killing of the seven Christian hostages in Nigeria." A caption underneath says in Arabic and in English: "In the name of Allah Most Beneficent Most Merciful". The video matched still images released earlier by Ansaru when it claimed the killings.
The killings are thought to be the most deadly Islamist terrorist attack yet against foreigners in Nigeria. The foreign workers were based in Jama'are, a town about 125 miles north of Bauchi, where militant Islamists have launched numerous attacks in an effort to destabilise the government of president Goodluck Jonathan and create Islamic rule. Official silence shrouds the affair, with no statement released by the Nigerian government two days after Ansaru said it had killed the workers.
Ansaru, a splinter group independent from Boko Haram, the main terrorist group in northern Nigeria, claimed responsibility and announced on Saturday it had killed "all the seven Christian foreigners". "Up to this moment in time, I have nothing to confirm that the hostages have been killed. Our investigations are still ongoing to ascertain whether they are alive or not," said Hassan Mohammed, police spokesperson for Bauchi state.
Experts on Islamist terrorism in the west African country said the killings were further evidence that Ansaru was focused on attacking foreign nationals in an attempt to internationalise a bloody internal conflict that has led to Boko Haram claiming the lives of more than 1,500 Nigerians since 2009. Contradicting Ansaru claims, government sources said no rescue raid was under way or in the pipeline with any other governments.
Ansaru was responsible for the killing of British construction worker Christopher McManus, 28 and his Italian colleague Franco Lamolinara, 47, in February 2012. "The [Nigerian] government had zero indication of where the hostages were being held. We would have mounted a raid if we had known," a senior presidential aide told the Guardian, adding that the speed at which events had unfolded over the last few days "caught [the government] on the back foot".
The group said the latest killings were in retaliation for what it believed to be attempts by the British and Nigerian governments to rescue them. They cited local media reports that British military planes had been seen at the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport, 200 miles away in Abuja, and suggestions they were in the area to launch a rescue mission. Two security sources told the Guardian the hostages may have been executed as their captors panicked, mistakenly believing British intelligence operatives based in Nigeria had located them.
The Ministry of Defence indicated no such operation was under way, a position backed by the Italian and Greek governments. Ansaru had not made any demands since seizing the seven men, the sources said. "They didn't communicate anything. It didn't make sense to kill their hostages, and lose their bargaining chip so to speak," one secret service source said.
"We are supporting the French in their activities in Mali which includes transporting equipment and manpower," an MoD spokeswoman said. A Nigerian secret service official told the Guardian that three of the hostages were believed to be "seriously ill" during their captivity. Vaughan, the Briton, was a diabetic, while Trevisan suffered from hypertension. Attempts had been made to pass medication to them through members of Ansaru, but were unsuccessful, the source added.
"Responsibility for this tragic outcome rests squarely with the terrorists," said Hague. "I am grateful to the Nigerian government for their unstinting help and co-operation. We are utterly determined to work with them to hold the perpetrators of this heinous act to account, and to combat the terrorism which so blights the lives of people in northern Nigeria and in the wider region." Ansaru came into the spotlight when it kidnapped and executed British construction worker Christopher McManus, 28 and his Italian colleague Franco Lamolinara, 47, in February 2012.
A message was posted on an Islamist website claiming that Ansaru members had killed the hostages after reports of the British warplanes in Abuja. Unlike Boko Haram, their violent campaign appears to be aimed squarely at raising its profile through international targets. Ansaru also claimed responsibility for an attack that killed two and wounded eight Mali-bound soldiers in the central Nigeria state of Kano in January this year.
But the group cited a report on a Nigerian website dated 23 February, two weeks earlier, which also included a quote from the British high commissioner in Nigeria, Rob Fitzpatrick, describing the presence of the planes as "routine military-to-military engagement".