ISIS Beheads Aid Worker Alan Henning In "Another Message To America And Its Allies" Video
The Islamic State released a beheading video of British hostage Alan Henning on Friday, making it the fourth incident of such executions of western journalists and aid workers.
By Sadho Ram — 04 Oct 2014, 11:14 AM — Updated almost 10 years ago
Three weeks after threatening to kill Alan Henning, a British aid worker, the Islamist State on 3 October released a new video purporting to show the British aid worker being beheaded
A horrifying new Internet video released on Friday shows a hooded ISIS terrorist viciously sawing off the head of British hostage Alan Henning in what the fanatic says is retaliation for allied airstrikes on the militants.
nypost.com
Alan is the fourth western hostage to have been killed by the group, following the filmed beheadings of US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and Scottish aid worker David Haines
Steven Sotloff (from left), David Haines and James Foley were all captured and beheaded by ISIS.
Image via wordpress.comTitled Another Message to America and its Allies, the new video, lasting 71 seconds, begins with a clip of a newscaster announcing the British Parliament's approval of airstrikes against ISIS
The video opens with a clip from a Russia Today newscast reporting that the U.K. Parliament voted to join the U.S.-led coalition and strike Iraq. British Parliament voted to authorize airstrikes on militant strongholds in Iraq last week. The first Royal Air Force jet bombed Iraq on Saturday.
The screen then goes black and the words “another message to America and its allies” appear in white letters. The video then shows the executioner and Henning, whose hands are tied behind his back. The ISIS militant appears to be the same man in the beheading videos of James Foley, Steven Sotloff and David Haines; he is clad in black and speaks in English with a London accent.
Before he is killed, Alan speaks to the camera, referencing the British Parliament's decision to participate in coalition of over 40 countries who have banded together to go after the Islamic State
The graphic 71-second video shows Alan Henning, clad in an orange jumpsuit and kneeling on desert sands, with the ISIS thug wielding a large knife standing behind him to his left. “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 stunned looking Henning says.
nypost.com
The terrorist – who speaks with a British accent and appears to be the fighter known as John the Beatle – then addresses the camera. “The blood of David Haines was on your hands Cameron,” he says, referring to another butchered hostage and British Prime Minister David Cameron. “Alan Henning will also be slaughtered. But his blood is on the hands of the British Parliament,” the hooded man says, pointing his knife straight at the camera.
nypost.com
A married man with two children, Alan, a taxi-driver by profession, was in Syria when he was abducted in December 2013. He was stopped while taking part in an aid convoy that was transporting medical supplies to a Syrian hospital, according to reports.
Alan Henning had been held by Isis since he was taken prisoner in Syria after joining an aid convoy
Image via guim.co.ukHenning, 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. Described by friends as “a big man with a big heart”, Henning fell into the group’s hands after joining a group of Muslim friends on an aid convoy to Syria last Christmas.
theguardian.com
It was the second time in nine months that Henning had joined an aid convoy to Syria, after helping to raise funds to purchase the ambulances and medical equipment being taken into the country. Other volunteers on the convoy have since described how he was separated from them after armed men surrounded a warehouse a short drive from the Turkish border, where they were delivering ambulances and medical equipment.
theguardian.com
The gunmen claimed that they were suspicious about Henning because he was not a Muslim, and because he had a chip in his UK passport. He was taken away despite the other volunteers demonstrating that all UK passports carried such a chip. Henning was shown and named in a previous video by Isis, which depicted the murder of Haines, 44, a father of two from Perth in central Scotland.
theguardian.com
At the end of the video, entitled A Message to the Allies of America, Haines’ killer was seen holding Henning by the collar of the orange jumpsuit in which he was dressed, and saying in a distinctive London accent: “If you, Cameron, persist in fighting the Islamic State, then you, like your master Obama, will have the blood of your people on your hands.”
theguardian.com
And earlier this week, Alan's wife had pleaded for his release
"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."
theguardian.com
The execution of Alan, however, comes after the reports that an ISIS-founded sharia court had cleared him espionage charges
ISIS's threats against Henning came under widespread criticism, especially after reports that he had been cleared of espionage charges by an ISIS-founded sharia court. A British Imam known for being a supporter of ISIS, Abdullah el-Faisal was among those who spoke up for Henning, saying that the 44-year-old was a "sympathizer to Muslims."
nymag.com
At the end of the video showing Alan's beheading, the Islamic State threatens the life of Peter Edward Kassig, a former American Army Ranger, blaming Obama and his renewed military action in Syria and Iraq for his and other hostages' deaths
BREAKING NEWS: Islamic State Video shows beheading of UK hostage Alan Henning, warns US hostage Peter Kassig is next pic.twitter.com/46bNKjYcRW
— Lisa Daftari (@LisaDaftari) October 3, 2014
Kassig is reportedly a former Army Ranger in his mid-20s, who started an aid group that provided medical supplies and treatment to Syria. Before this video, there were few indications online that he had been missing in Syria.
nymag.com
Kassig appears at the end of the Henning video, as his captor threatens he will be killed in retribution for US-led air strikes. “Obama, you have started your aerial bombardment of Sham, which keeps on striking our people, so it is only right that we continue to strike the neck of your people,” a masked militant in the video said, referring to the area of Iraq and Syria overrun by Isis.
theguardian.com