MY DAD’S LAST DAYS AS AN ISIS HOSTAGE
Aid worker captives were ‘like brothers’ Kidnappers forced them to fight for sport
But ex-CIA boss Douglas Wise said: “I think bringing them back to the UK would be a disaster... it would be a media spectacle.
“You’d have defence attorneys making this a spectacle, the prosecution making it a spectacle.
“It would just be horribly bad for Britain and the families of the victims.
“Kurdish justice is a great system when it comes to Arab extremists, or turn them over to the Iraqi government – they’ll hang them.”
Emwazi was killed in a drone strike in 2015.
Fourth “Beatle”, Aine Davis, was convicted of being an IS operative and jailed in Turkey in 2017. David Haines with Bethany THE daughter of a British aid worker killed by Islamic State executioner Jihadi John has learned of his time in captivity from a fellow hostage.
David Haines, 44, was snatched at gunpoint in Syria in 2013, when daughter Bethany was 16 years old.
He had texted her just hours earlier, saying: “Hey there darling, hope you’re OK. I’m fine, working away. Love, dad.”
It was the last message she got from her dad, beheaded by “Beatles” terrorist Mohammed Emwazi 18 months later.
Bethany’s mum shielded her from the details of David’s ordeal. But now she has spoken to her father’s fellow aid worker Federico Motka, who was taken alongside him. She said: “Federico was the first person who was completely honest with me. That conversation with him gave me a lot of closure. He was a straight-up guy, the same way my father was.”
Security expert David was working for French charity the Agency for Technical Co-operation and Development when he and Federico were taken. They endured torture, beatings and sleep deprivation, and were forced to fight fellow hostages, British photographer John Cantlie and US journalist Jim Foley .
Foley was later killed by IS, while Cantlie’s fate is unknown. FRIEND Federico Motka Federico said: “They had Dave and me in one corner, and John and James in the other, and they wanted us to fight. We were like skeletons by then, and every one of us fainted from exhaustion. [The captors] found it highly entertaining.” Federico told Bethany how they told stories, gave talks on their hobbies and played games to pass the time. He said: “We drew a lot of strength from each other. The games allowed us to escape inside a world we created for ourselves. These guys aren’t just friends – they’re brothers.” Federico was freed after 14 months, when the Italian government reportedly paid a Emwazi, aka Jihadi John £5million ransom, and has regular contact with Bethany.
She said: “Getting to know him has been a really great experience for me.”
Federico said: “I definitely see a lot of David in her, which is a wonderful thing, to know that part of David lives on.”
Bethany may travel to war-torn Syria this summer to find David’s remains and bring them back to his native Scotland.
She said: “I miss my father. I miss walking by the river with him.
“All he wanted was to help people and he paid for it with his life.”
■ The Hunt for Jihadi John will air on Channel 4 tonight at 9pm. kept in