Brother ‘not ready to forgive’ killers

THE BROTHER of murdered humanitarian David Haines said he is “not strong enough to forgive” the British jihadis responsible for the killing, but said he took “courage, support and comfort” from children’s poems written in his sibling’s memory.

Mike Haines said he initially felt like he wanted “to go to Syria and kill” after aid worker David, 44, was captured and beheaded in 2014 after being held by a four-man terrorist group of Britons dubbed ‘The Beatles’.

David, a father-of-two from Perth in Scotland, who was born in Holderness, East Yorkshire, was working for an aid agency in Syria when he was captured in March 2013 before being killed on camera by the terrorists.

Mohammed Emwazi, the group’s ringleader, also known as Jihadi John, was killed in a US air strike in 2015, while Aine Davis is in jail in Turkey for terror offences. The other two cell members, Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, are in US custody.

Asked whether he would ever be able to forgive those responsible for his brother’s barbaric death, Mr Haines said: “‘Forgiveness’ is a very tough word and I’m not a strong enough man to forgive my brother’s murderers – maybe one day.

“‘Forgiveness’ is not the word I would use. It is possibly ‘understanding’.

“We need to understand them, people who have gone out for whatever reason, we need to understand their actions, we need to know they will face justice.”

There have been calls, including from former MI6 chief Sir John Sawers, for the remaining ‘Beatles’ to be brought before a UK court and put on trial in the same way Manchester Arena bomb conspirator Hashem Abedi was brought before the Old Bailey earlier this year.