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UK doctor's death in Syria 'in effect murder', says minister UK doctor's death in Syria 'in effect murder', says minister
(35 minutes later)
British doctor Abbas Khan's death in Syria is "at best extremely suspicious", says UK Foreign Office Minister Hugh Robertson. British doctor Abbas Khan has "in effect" been murdered by the Syrian authorities just days before his expected release from jail, Foreign Office Minister Hugh Robertson said.
He said it appeared the 32-year-old orthopaedic surgeon from Streatham, south London, had been "murdered by the Syrian regime" in detention. He said the death of the 32-year-old orthopaedic surgeon from London, was "at best extremely suspicious".
Dr Khan was arrested last year when he arrived in Aleppo to help civilians.Dr Khan was arrested last year when he arrived in Aleppo to help civilians.
Mr Robertson said the government was seeking "urgent clarification" about what happened to him. Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said Dr Khan committed suicide using his pyjamas to hang himself.
Dr Khan's family had been told he would be released on Friday, but his brother Afroze said on Monday when his mother went to see her son in Damascus she was told he was dead. 'No excuse'
A Syrian government official told the BBC Dr Khan had committed suicide in his cell. Dr Khan's family had been told he would be released on Friday following an order from the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The official said the decision to release Dr Khan this week had involved "the highest authority". His brother, Afroze Khan, said on Monday when his mother went to see her son in Damascus she was told he was dead.
Mr Robertson said: "We can't at the moment be absolutely certain about the circumstances in which Dr Khan met his death, but what is clear is that he went to Syria on a humanitarian mission, was imprisoned by the Syrian authorities and met his death while he was in prison in circumstances that are at best extremely suspicious. Mr Robertson said the government was seeking "urgent clarification" about what happened to Dr Khan, originally from Streatham, south London.
He said "We can't at the moment be absolutely certain about the circumstances in which Dr Khan met his death, but what is clear is that he went to Syria on a humanitarian mission, was imprisoned by the Syrian authorities and met his death while he was in prison in circumstances that are at best extremely suspicious.
"There is no excuse whatsoever for the treatment that he has suffered by the Syrian authorities who have in effect murdered a British national who was in their country to help people who were injured during their civil war.""There is no excuse whatsoever for the treatment that he has suffered by the Syrian authorities who have in effect murdered a British national who was in their country to help people who were injured during their civil war."
The Respect MP George Galloway, who has liaised with the Syrian authorities and was due to collect Dr Khan on Friday, said the death was "murder most foul" and it was "inconceivable that he committed suicide".
The MP for Bradford West said he believed somebody within the regime killed Dr Khan to defy President Assad's decision to release him.
BBC correspondent Paul Wood, reporting from Beirut, said Dr Abbas could have been a casualty of a power struggle between the Syrian president and his own security services.
He said: "Only President Assad could have ordered the doctor's release - if he did so it may well have been a goodwill gesture in the run up to peace talks that Britain is helping to organise.
"Some in the regime perhaps do not want those talks to succeed."
Afroze Khan said: "Life's been turned upside down. We are a very close knit family. We have been through this ordeal for 13 months now and are in utter despair really.
"But we are also proud that he died doing something that he believed in - helping people who were in desperate need."