Alan Henning, Briton held by Isil, is Manchester taxi driver who drove aid van to Syria

'Lovely guy' was delivering clothes and bedding for Aid 4 Syria charity when he was abducted on Boxing Day last year

The Briton threatened with execution next by Islamic State militants in Syria is a Manchester taxi driver who drove a van full of aid to Syria to help children in the war-torn country.

Alan Henning had taken time off from his job to deliver a van full of clothes and bedding he and friends had collected, when he was abducted on Boxing Day last year.

The 47-year-old father of two was part of a small aid group called Aid 4 Syria, friends told The Telegraph, and he was on his third convoy to the country when he was seized by masked men near the Turkish border.

He is seen in the closing seconds of a horrific two-and-a-half minute video released on Saturday night showing the beheading of another British aid worker, David Haines.

Mr Henning appears kneeling in the desert wearing in orange, shapeless clothes, as the executioner stands behind him and threatens David Cameron "will have the blood of your people on your hands" if he joins an American military alliance to fight the militants.

Mr Henning is believed to have been seized when fighters loyal to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) overran the town of Ad Dana where he was working with refugees close to the Turkish border.

He was thrown into a makeshift prison by the extremists, but initially thought his work for a Muslim charity would save him.
A Syrian activist told a Dutch reporter earlier in 2014 that he had spent a night in the same cell and Mr Henning had appeared in good spirits, believing he was about to be freed because of his work in the region.

However the activist, who later escaped, found Mr Henning had instead later been moved to Raqqa, the Syrian city considered the capital of the Isil regime.

Friends of Mr Henning, who lives in Eccles, described him as a "lovely guy" who had been moved to act by the plight of Syrian children caught in the country’s civil war.

A close friend told The Telegraph: "He was taking over old ambulances, just helping out as much as he could.

"There were a few of them that went out with him. They were just a group of mates that started it all off. They were supposed to be over there for about six months but he was kidnapped just a few days after he left."

His wife, Barbara, had been told he was being well treated. The friend said: "He had his own mattress because the militant guys knew he was over there doing good."

"He’d been a taxi driver for years but he started taking all this Syria stuff seriously when the war started. It was the fourth time he’d gone out there. He had a tattoo saying Aid 4 Syria on his arm. I think he thought it was his mission to help the kids out there.
"It used to take him about four days to drive there in a van full of stuff. Then they would pile it all into old ambulances and drive them over the border.

"He’s a really good man and really down to earth. He was just doing his best to help the children. I can’t understand why those people don’t just let him go."

Debbie Ashton, 47, a neighbour, described him as a "lovely guy".
She said: "We used to call him Gadget because he loved all his electronic stuff.

"He was really funny too. When I had a bad ankle, he used to call me Peg Leg.

"He was always asking us if we knew anyone who was throwing their clothes away. He was just trying to help out. He took clothes, bedding, shoes. Everyone used to drop it all off at his house.
"He told me they would go to the border and they would have to take everything out of the van and go in ambulances otherwise they wouldn’t let him in.

"He was really emotional about it all and he used to say those kids need all the help they can get.

"He told me ‘You wouldn’t believe the life they live over there.’ But then he just disappeared around Christmas time.

"I can’t believe they’ve taken him. He was just trying to help, and he does not deserve this."

Activists and aid workers who knew Mr Henning paid tribute to him.

One, who declined to be named, said he was "the best of the best"
Another, wrote on Twitter: "Alan Henning...sacrificed his time to come with us on aid convoys to Syria. I feel sick."

He continued: "He sacrificed his fishing holidays, his Christmas at home his work holidays specifically to come on aid convoys and help the Syrians."

His family released, via the Foreign Office, a picture taken at a refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border, of Mr Henning holding a young child.

His brother, Reginald, declined to comment: He said: "We’ve been told by the Home Office to appreciate the family’s privacy."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11095719/Alan-Henning-Briton-held-by-Isil-is-Manchester-taxi-driver-who-drove-aid-van-to-Syria.html