The brother of a British volunteer kidnapped and murdered by Islamic State says he believes the abduction was an ‘inside job’ by someone on the aid convoy he was part of.
Father-of-two Alan Henning was kidnapped in Syria December 2013 by the group of British jihadis dubbed the Beatles and beheaded in October 2014, aged 47.
He was on his third mission delivering aid in the war zone when he was captured.
Mr Henning, a taxi driver from Eccles, Greater Manchester, had volunteered with the charity Al-Fatiha Global, after hearing about its work through fellow cabbies.
This week, a damning report has been published about the organisation following an investigation by the Charity Commission. It was condemned for placing the lives of volunteers at ‘undue risk’.
Some men who travelled with the convoy were subsequently revealed to have jihadist links, an earlier court case was told.
Mr Henning’s brother Reg said of Al-Fatiha: ‘I think there was something dodgy about them.’ He added: ‘I’ve heard that ISIS were tipped off by someone on the convoy that there was a white man who was worth more money (to kidnap).’
Reg Henning (pictured) believes the kidnapping and murder of his brother Alan Henning by the Islamic State in 2013-14 was an ‘inside job’ by someone working in the charity
Alan Henning had volunteered for the charity Al-Fatiha when he was attacked in Syria
Reg Henning said his brother had volunteered with previous convoys because he ‘loved helping the kids out there’.
He added that his brother ‘always saw the good in people’ and would have believed the aid convoy was safe because most volunteers were taxi drivers from around the Britain, who have to undergo background checks for work.
But he fears the convoys may have been used to ‘smuggle people into Syria or back home’, as well as cash to jihadists.
He added: ‘Alan would have been a big bonus (to his kidnappers). I believe the initial ransom demand for him was £10million.’
The Charity Commission found Al-Fatiha Global failed to undertake vetting or checks of people on its convoys.
No records were kept of how its money was spent, while some people on the aid convoys who went to Syria failed to return to the UK, the report said.
Joint leader of the convoy from which Mr Henning was kidnapped was Adeel Ali, now 34, the son of Al-Fatiha’s founder, Mumtaz Ali, 60. The younger Mr Ali had been photographed posing with masked militiamen bearing AK47 rifles.
Adeel Ali and another man leading the convoy were said to have picked up 80 additional volunteers in Turkey and within Syria but the extra recruits did not have background checks.
A trial at the Old Bailey in 2016 heard three men on the fateful convoy with Mr Henning were smuggling cash to terrorist snipers. Two men were convicted and jailed for terror offences.
Kasim Jameel, an humanitarian aid convoy leader and friend of murdered British aid worker Alan Henning, addresses members of the media from his home in Bolton in 2014
Dr Shameela Islam-Zulfiqar, who accompanied murdered British aid worker Alan Henning on mercy missions to Syria, attends a press conference at Manchester Central Mosque in 2014
Questioned by the Charity Commission about Mr Henning’s kidnap and murder, representatives of Al-Fatiha tried to deny he had been on its convoy.
The Charity Commission said there was ‘no evidence of any due diligence or risk management systems’… and that ‘volunteers and property had been placed at undue risk.’
Al-Fatiha, based in Worcester, was being monitored by the Charity Commission eight months before Mr Henning’s abduction ‘following concerns that the charity was planning to operate outside of its objectives’ in ‘high risk’ Syria, Palestine and Burma.
Details of Adeel Ali’s photograph with fighters – reportedly in Syria – emerged in newspaper reports in March 2014.
Al-Fatiha said the picture was taken in Gaza rather than Syria, and dated from before he joined the charity.
Press reports also alleged ‘a number of people’ on the 2013 aid convoys ‘had not returned to the UK’, while ‘the charity was linked by social media to a convicted terrorist and another person who held in custody for alleged terrorism offences’.
The 2014 newspaper revelations prompted the commission to open an inquiry – leading to the report, published on Monday.
The Charity Commission said: ‘There was little or no risk assessment or contingency plans.’
The commission said Adeel Ali’s ‘conduct in posing for a photograph with masked gunmen in a conflict zone’ – ‘irrespective’ of when or where – ‘was not behaviour appropriate for a charity to be associated with’.
The Charity Commission said there was ‘no substantive control’ of the convoy leader or Adeel Ali by Al-Fatiha’s trustees – and no vetting of recruits. No background checks were carried out and no training or support in place for volunteers, the report said.
Referring to Mr Henning’s death, the Charity Commission said Al-Fatiha failed to submit a ‘serious incident report’ to the commission, liaise with the Foreign Office or authorities in Syria.
Mr Henning said he remains angry with the Government’s initial response to his brother’s kidnapping.
He said: ‘What amazes me is that for 10 months, they said they had no idea where he was yet they have satellites with technology powerful enough to read a car number plate.
‘He was just an average bloke who meant nothing. They weren’t bothered.’
Al-Fatiha – which last filed accounts in 2018 – did not respond to requests for comment.
A man who answered the door at the suburban house where the organisation is registered said of the Charity Commission report: ‘There is no one here who can make a comment on it. I can’t give you any more information.’