London: British aid worker David Haines devoted his life to helping civilians in war zones and that is how he should be remembered, his family said Sunday as they grieved his death at the hands of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) militants in Syria.
Haines - the third Westerner beheaded in recent weeks by Isil- had entered humanitarian work with enthusiasm, his brother Mike Haines said in a statement.
“He helped whoever needed help, regardless of race, creed or religion,” he said of his brother.
Haines was kidnapped in Syria in March last year when he was working for the French aid group Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development, or ACTED, to help victims of the fighting there.
He had also worked for groups such as Handicap International, which helps the disabled during conflicts, and Nonviolent Peaceforce, which sends unarmed peacekeepers into conflict zones. He had previously been in Libya during its civil war and South Sudan. Mike Haines said he had also worked for the United Nations in the Balkans “helping people in real need.”
The leader of Bosnia’s Islamic Community, Hussain Kavazovic, called on fellow Muslims Sunday to “show resolve to stop the murderers.” He said Haines’ family can be proud of his legacy.
The 44-year-old aid worker’s family had issued a plea to his captors the day before the latest beheading video was released. They urged the hostage-takers to contact them. The family said Isil had ignored earlier attempts to open communications.
Mike Haines said his brother had joined the military as an aircraft engineer with the Royal Air Force after attending school and working for the Royal Mail.
He later got involved in humanitarian work and was “most alive and enthusiastic” when involved with such missions, Mike Haines said.
“His joy and anticipation for the work he went to do in Syria is for myself and family the most important element of this whole sad affair,” Mike Haines said. “He was and is loved by all his family and will be missed terribly.”
Haines had a teenage daughter in Scotland from a previous marriage and a four-year-old daughter in Croatia with his current wife, Dragana, who did not comment Sunday morning on the news of the killing.
