Alan Henning (15 August 1967 – ) was an English

taxicab A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

driver-turned-volunteer

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and Humanitarian Logistics, logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homelessness, homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Th ...

worker. He became the fourth Western hostage killed by the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...

(ISIL) with his killing publicised in a

beheading video A beheading video is a video which depicts a live murder by beheading or the aftermath (e.g., display of the severed head). Such videos are typically distributed mostly through the Internet, and are often employed by groups seeking to instill sh ...

. Henning was captured during ISIL's occupation of the Syrian city of Al-Dana in December 2013 while providing humanitarian aid. The

British Foreign Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign an ...

withheld news of Henning's capture while it attempted to negotiate his release. Local colleagues had warned Henning not to cross the border into Syria, but he insisted on going to ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian supplies. At the time of his capture, Henning was working as a driver for the Worcester-based charity Al-Fatiha Global. Henning was shown at the end of David Haines's execution video, released on 13 September 2014, and was referred to as being the next victim by Mohammed Emwazi, who the media described as "Jihadi John" of the ISIL cell known as

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

. A video of Henning's beheading was released on 3 October 2014. In an

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

magazine interview, spokesman Adam Gadahn condemned the beheading. After his murder, British Prime Minister

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

ordered

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

, and

GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the United Kingdom. Primar ...

to track down and either kill or capture his killer. Emwazi was ultimately killed in an American drone strike in 2015.

Early life

Henning was a taxi driver in Eccles,

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

, Greater Manchester, in

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before he traveled to Syria in December 2013 to volunteer as an aid worker. He lived in Eccles, Greater Manchester with his family. A fundraising page was also set up to help support his family following his death. He was married to Barbara, and had two children, Lucy and Adam.

Kidnapping

In December 2013, Henning was part of a team of volunteers delivering goods and funds to people affected by Syria's civil war. He was abducted on 26 December 2013 by masked gunmen, according to other people in his aid convoy.

Beheading

A video released on 3 October 2014 shows Henning's apparent beheading. The executioner identified as "Jihadi John" from the ISIL cell known as

, blamed the execution on the UK's involvement in the U.S.-led bombing campaign against ISIS. Before the beheading, Henning appears on camera, handcuffed behind his back and in a kneeling position, next to a knife-wielding masked man (

Jihadi John Mohammed Emwazi (born Muhammad Jassim Abdulkarim Olayan al-Dhafiri; ; 17 August 1988 – 12 November 2015) was a British militant of Kuwaiti origin seen in several videos produced by the Islamist extremist group Islamic State (IS) showin ...

). Henning speaks, referencing the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

's decision to join the coalition of countries, such as the United States, that have banded together to bomb the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The video concludes with a threat to the life of American aid worker Peter Kassig.

Reactions

Prime Minister

condemned the killing as "absolutely appalling" and "completely unforgivable" and vowed to do everything to defeat ISIL. He described Henning as a man of great peace, kindness and gentleness, saying: "He went with many Muslim friends to do no more than simply help other people. His Muslim friends will be mourning him at this special time of Eid, and the whole country mourns with them." On 5 October 2014, prayers were said for Henning in churches across Bolton. The

Bishop of Bolton The Bishop of Bolton is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Manchester, in the province of York, England. The title takes its name after the town of Bolton in Greater Manchester; the See was erected ...

Rt Rev Chris Edmondson said: "This is the most horrific, brutal and barbaric act. Leaders of Christian and Muslim faiths have universally condemned this act." Bolton Interfaith Council and Bolton Council of Mosques, which had held a vigil for Henning before news of his death, pledged to continue praying for him. A special service of remembrance was held at Eccles Parish Church, attended by Henning's widow. A memorial fund was established by friend and fellow aid-worker Shameela Islam-Zulfiqar, with the aim of raising £20,000. By 9 October 2014, £30,000 had been raised by the Muslim community to help support Henning's family. A further memorial service was held on 12 October at the British Muslim Heritage Centre, organised by friends and humanitarian aid colleagues of Henning, attracting over 600 people. The family of Ken Bigley, who was also a hostage murdered in Iraq by Tawhid al-Jihad (the precursor of ISIS), offered their condolences to the family of Alan Henning. On 7 October, former

Guantánamo Bay Guantánamo Bay (, ) is a bay in Guantánamo Province at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the largest harbor on the south side of the island and it is surrounded by steep hills which create an enclave that is cut off from its immediate hint ...

detainee

Moazzam Begg Moazzam Begg (; born 5 July 1968 in Sparkhill, Birmingham) is a British Pakistani who was held in extrajudicial detention by the US government in the Bagram Theater Internment Facility and the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, in Cuba, for ...

said that he had offered to intervene to help secure Henning's release. The

Salafi The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a fundamentalist revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" is a self-designation, claiming a retu ...

Muslims of the UK condemned the murder of Alan Henning, noting that ISIS has violated Islam's respect for covenants and had also mistreated Henning and the Muslims captured along with him. They also criticised a London-based follower of Omar Bakri, Mizanur Rahman (aka Abu Baraa), who attempted to justify Henning's killing. In October 2014, Labour MP

Barbara Keeley Barbara Mary Keeley, Baroness Keeley (born 26 March 1952), is a British Labour Party politician. She served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Worsley and Eccles South, previously Worsley, from 2005 to 2024, and has been a member of the House ...

, called for public recognition of Henning's sacrifice, and for support for his widow and children, a request which the prime minister agreed to consider. In April 2020, it was reported that the charity Henning had worked for failed in its duty to safeguard Henning and other volunteers while they were working in Syria.

References

External links