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Isis video claims to show beheading of British hostage David Haines Isis video claims to show beheading of British hostage David Haines
(35 minutes later)
Islamic State (Isis) militants have released a video showing the apparent beheading of a British hostage, David Haines. Militants with the Islamic State jihadi group have released a video that appears to show the beheading of a British hostage, David Haines, an aid worker who was captured just days after he arrived in Syria a year ago.
Site, an intelligence group, which was the first to report US journalist Steven Sotloff’s beheading last month, confirmed the video’s release. British government officials were seeking to authenticate the video which purported to show the final moments of Haines, who was 44.
In the video, entitled A Message to the Allies of America, a masked man is shown carrying out the beheading of Haines, whose life had earlier been threatened in a video showing the murder of American journalist Steven Sotloff. The video, which runs to two minutes and twenty-eight seconds, ends with a warning that a second British hostage would be the next to die. In the video, entitled A Message to the Allies of America, a masked man is shown carrying out the beheading of Haines, whose life had earlier been threatened in a video showing the murder of American journalist Steven Sotloff. The video, which runs to two minutes and 28 seconds, ends with a warning that a second British hostage would be the next to die.
The recording, features a voiceover delivered by an Isis militant, whose voice and accent closely resembles that of the killer in both the Sotloff and Foley videos. The killer directly addresses Prime Minister David Cameron, saying that Haines “has to pay the price for your promise” to arm Kurdish peshmerga fighters against Isis. Haines is the third western hostage and the first Briton to be killed in this fashion by the Islamic State (Isis) – the first, US journalist James Foley, was murdered in a video released on 19 August.
In response to the video’s release, David Cameron said on Twitter: “The murder of David Haines is an act of pure evil. My heart goes out to his family who have shown extraordinary courage and fortitude,” adding: “We will do everything in our power to hunt down these murderers and ensure they face justice, however long it takes.” The prime minister, David Cameron, issued a statement denouncing the killing. “This is a despicable and appalling murder of an innocent aid worker. It is an act of pure evil. My heart goes out to the family of David Haines who have shown extraordinary courage and fortitude throughout this ordeal.
Sotloff was the second hostage to be killed by Isis. His murder followed a threat on his life made in a video showing the beheading of US journalist, James Foley. “We will do everything in our power to hunt down these murderers and ensure they face justice, however long it takes.”
In London, the Foreign Office has said it is aware of the video and “working urgently to verify” its content. The recording features a voiceover delivered by an Isis militant, whose voice and accent closely resembles that of the killer in both the Sotloff and Foley videos. The killer directly addresses Cameron, saying that Haines “has to pay the price for your promise” to arm Kurdish peshmerga fighters against Isis.
Haines, who was 44, was kidnapped last year. He had been in Syria for just three days when he was kidnapped and handed over to Isis militants. Speaking to the camera, the hostage, composed but clearly under duress, reads out a statement in which he says that Cameron is “entirely responsible for my execution” for entering into a coalition with America.
The murder comes one day after the Haines’ family released a statement urging his captors to contact them. Haines, who was in the Royal Air Force for 12 years before moving into aid work, addresses Cameron, saying: “You entered voluntarily into a coalition with the United States against the Islamic State, just as your predecessor, Tony Blair, did, following a trend amongst our British prime ministers who can’t find the courage to say no to the Americans. Unfortunately, it is we, the British public, that will in the end pay the price for our Parliament’s selfish decisions.”
The aid worker was taken while working for Acted in Syria in March 2013. The killer, swathed in black, then makes a statement in which he makes a direct reference to the British government’s aid to Kurdish fighters.
He says: “This British man has to pay the price for your promise, Cameron, to arm the Peshmerga against the Islamic State. Ironically, he has spent a decade of his life serving under the same Royal Air Force that is responsible for delivering those arms.
“Your evil alliance with America which continues to strike the Muslims of Iraq and most recently bombed the Haditha Dam will only accelerate your destruction. And playing the role of the obedient lapdog, Cameron, will only drag you and your people into another bloody and unwinnable war.”
At the end of the latest video, another hostage – apparently British – is paraded.
The US carried out at least nine air strikes last week on Isis militants threatening the Haditha dam. The bombing was cited by Haines’s killer in the video.
A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office in London said: “We are aware of the video and are working urgently to verify the contents.”
Isis had threatened to kill Haines, a father of two, in a video that emerged 11 days ago in which Sotloff was murdered.
Less than 24 hours before the latest video emerged, the Haines family had made a plea to the jihadists to respond to their efforts to make contact. The family statement, which was released by the UK Foreign Office and addressed the militants directly, said: “We are the family of David Haines. We have sent messages to you to which we have not received a reply. We are asking those holding David to make contact with us.”
Haines was born in East Yorkshire but raised in Perthshire, and before his capture was living in Croatia with his second wife Dragana. He has a 17-year-old daughter with his first wife Louise, and a four-year-old daughter with Dragana who has described him as a “fantastic man and father”.
He was kidnapped while working for the aid organisation Acted, having previously worked n Libya and South Sudan.
The British foreign secretary Philip Hammond has said the foreign office would be doing “everything” they could to protect Haines, and questions will inevitably be raised about the government’s next steps.
A meeting of the British government’s emergency committee, Cobra, is expected to be called imminently and the prime minister’s attentions will be diverted from the referendum on Scottish independence, due to take place on Thursday.
Haines has worked for aid agencies in some of the world’s worst trouble spots, including Libya and South Sudan. He was in Libya during its civil war in 2011, working as head of mission for Handicap International, which helps disabled people in poverty and conflict zones around the world.