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| Wife of British hostage Alan Henning makes video appeal for his release | Wife of British hostage Alan Henning makes video appeal for his release |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The wife of the Manchester taxi driver held hostage by Islamic State militants has begged the group to spare his life and allow him to return to his family. | The wife of the Manchester taxi driver held hostage by Islamic State militants has begged the group to spare his life and allow him to return to his family. |
| The emotional televised appeal by Barbara Henning was arranged by the Foreign Office on Tuesday, shortly before the Ministry of Defence announced that RAF aircraft had bombed Isis targets for the first time. | The emotional televised appeal by Barbara Henning was arranged by the Foreign Office on Tuesday, shortly before the Ministry of Defence announced that RAF aircraft had bombed Isis targets for the first time. |
| Henning, whose husband, Alan, has been held in Syria for nine months, said she could not understand why Isis was unable to acknowledge the truth about his reasons for travelling to the country. | Henning, whose husband, Alan, has been held in Syria for nine months, said she could not understand why Isis was unable to acknowledge the truth about his reasons for travelling to the country. |
| “We are at a loss why those leading Islamic State cannot open their hearts and minds to the truth about Alan’s humanitarian motives for going to Syria and why they continue to ignore the verdict of their own justice system,” she said. “Surely those who wish to be seen as a state will act in a statesmanlike way by showing mercy and providing clemency.” | “We are at a loss why those leading Islamic State cannot open their hearts and minds to the truth about Alan’s humanitarian motives for going to Syria and why they continue to ignore the verdict of their own justice system,” she said. “Surely those who wish to be seen as a state will act in a statesmanlike way by showing mercy and providing clemency.” |
| Last week Henning revealed she had received an audio message from her husband pleading for his life, and had been told that a sharia court had found him innocent of being a spy. | Last week Henning revealed she had received an audio message from her husband pleading for his life, and had been told that a sharia court had found him innocent of being a spy. |
| “I have a further message for Islamic State,” she said on Tuesday. “We’ve not abandoned Alan and we continue in our attempts to communicate with you. We have had no contact from Islamic State holding him other than an audio file of him pleading for his life. | “I have a further message for Islamic State,” she said on Tuesday. “We’ve not abandoned Alan and we continue in our attempts to communicate with you. We have had no contact from Islamic State holding him other than an audio file of him pleading for his life. |
| “Muslims across the globe continue to question Islamic State over Alan’s fate. Their position regarding his statement is unequivocal. He is innocent. We ask Islamic State: please release him. We want him back home.” | “Muslims across the globe continue to question Islamic State over Alan’s fate. Their position regarding his statement is unequivocal. He is innocent. We ask Islamic State: please release him. We want him back home.” |
| In a direct message to her husband, Henning added: “Alan, we miss you and we’re dreadfully concerned for your safety. But we are given so much hope by the outcry across the world as to your imprisonment.” | In a direct message to her husband, Henning added: “Alan, we miss you and we’re dreadfully concerned for your safety. But we are given so much hope by the outcry across the world as to your imprisonment.” |
| Speaking about the circumstances in which her husband was abducted, Henning said: “Some say wrong time, wrong place.” But this was not correct, she said. “Alan was volunteering with his Muslim friend to help the people of Syria. He was in the right place during the right time.” | Speaking about the circumstances in which her husband was abducted, Henning said: “Some say wrong time, wrong place.” But this was not correct, she said. “Alan was volunteering with his Muslim friend to help the people of Syria. He was in the right place during the right time.” |
| Her 47-year-old husband, a father of two teenage children, from Eccles, Greater Manchester, was kidnapped last Boxing Day. He had joined a group of his Muslim friends who were taking ambulances and medical equipment to refugees in Syria. It was at least his second trip to the country. | Her 47-year-old husband, a father of two teenage children, from Eccles, Greater Manchester, was kidnapped last Boxing Day. He had joined a group of his Muslim friends who were taking ambulances and medical equipment to refugees in Syria. It was at least his second trip to the country. |
| Other volunteers have since described how he was separated from the rest of the group after armed men surrounded a warehouse, just a few minutes’ drive from the Turkish border, where they were delivering aid material. | Other volunteers have since described how he was separated from the rest of the group after armed men surrounded a warehouse, just a few minutes’ drive from the Turkish border, where they were delivering aid material. |
| His plight went unreported at the request of the UK Foreign Office, until he appeared in a video made by the group that also depicted the murder of the Scottish aid worker David Haines. | His plight went unreported at the request of the UK Foreign Office, until he appeared in a video made by the group that also depicted the murder of the Scottish aid worker David Haines. |
| Two previous videos posted on the internet and promoted through the use of social media depicted the murders of the American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff. Three subsequent videos have featured a British photographer, John Cantlie, delivering propaganda messages on behalf of Isis. In the first, he made clear that he was acting under duress. | Two previous videos posted on the internet and promoted through the use of social media depicted the murders of the American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff. Three subsequent videos have featured a British photographer, John Cantlie, delivering propaganda messages on behalf of Isis. In the first, he made clear that he was acting under duress. |
| A former Islamic State hostage said he believed that the direct pleas being made by Henning’s family were a good policy. | A former Islamic State hostage said he believed that the direct pleas being made by Henning’s family were a good policy. |
| Bunyamin Aygun, 43, an award-winning Turkish photographer, said he had been threatened with execution, regularly moved between squalid cells and repeatedly questioned over whether he was a spy. | Bunyamin Aygun, 43, an award-winning Turkish photographer, said he had been threatened with execution, regularly moved between squalid cells and repeatedly questioned over whether he was a spy. |
| He said one of his captors may have been British. “A guy of about 20 years old was speaking English, not Arabic or Turkish,” he said in an interview with 5 News. “He wasn’t wearing a mask. His English was like British English. And he was white.” |