Brother of beheaded aid worker calls for troops in Syria, Iraq

Reg Henning slams British government for not allowing family to go public sooner with news of Alan’s capture

The brother of a British aid worker executed by the Islamic State jihadist group railed against the British government’s handling of the situation and called for British troops on the ground in Syria and Iraq.

“Go and find them, bring them to justice, bring them over here, let us try them,” Reg Henning said in an interview with BBC news.

“You’re not going to find them by dropping a few bombs” he said Monday. “We need to send ground forces in to find out where these monsters are – the sooner we do it the sooner the killing stops.”

A video of Alan Henning, 47, being beheaded by IS terrorists surfaced on Friday. He had joined an aid convoy and was taken captive on Dec. 26, shortly after crossing the border between Turkey and Syria. Earlier last week, his wife, Barbara Henning, asked the militants in a televised plea: “Please release him. We need him back home.”

Dozens of Muslim leaders in Britain had urged the Islamic State group to release Alan Henning. His wife had said she was given hope by “the outcry across the world” over her husband’s imprisonment.

However, Reg Henning bashed the British government for preventing the family from going public with his brother’s capture until he appeared in an IS video showing another captive being executed.

Regn Henning, brother of executed British aid worker Alan Henning. (screen capture: BBC)

“If we made more noise perhaps people down in London might have stood up and taken notice,” he said. “We’ve seen the campaign that Alan’s generated now, all the ribbons round Eccles and everything. If this was done six months ago it could have done more good.”

The British government contends that publicity increases hostages’ propaganda value and increases the likelihood of them being executed.

British Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the “brutal murder” of Alan Henning and vowed to bring his killers to justice.

The White House said that a video showing the execution of British hostage Henning was yet another example of the “brutality” of the Islamic State group.

IS has previously released videos showing the beheadings of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff (who also held Israeli citizenship), and another British aid worker David Haines.

AP and AFP contributed to this report.