Daughter’s hope for dad’s remains
THE daughter of murdered hostage David Haines has told how she is hopeful his remains will now be located and brought back to Scotland.
Bethany Haines, 20, welcomed the capture of two IS operatives implicated in his killing and the prospect they might lead interrogators to his burial site, thought to be somewhere in Syria.
American officials have claimed Alexanda Kotey, 34, and El Shafee Elsheikh, 29, may offer up the details needed to find Mr Haines’ grave, as well as that of the other four men killed by the so-called Beatles terror cell.
Buoyed by hopes of having her father brought home, Ms Haines said: “I hadn’t heard anything, but there was always the promise from the Foreign Office that they would find some remains at some point.
“It’s good they are actually co-operating. They are probably doing it out of decency, they are doing it out of fear they will go to Guantanamo, but it’s good all the same.
“I always hated the thought of him being buried, as horrible as it sounds, in a shallow grave in a place he doesn’t know.
“Whereas bringing him home, and giving him somewhere close to home, would give me peace of mind that he had finally come home.
“He would be back in some shape or form and he could be buried in his own country and his family could visit him.”
Kotey and Elsheikh were implicated in the “Beatles” terror cell along with the infamous Jihadi John, whose real name was Mohamed Emwazi.
The latter acted as executioner in a series of filmed beheadings in 2014, while Kotey and Elsheikh helped to operate the cameras and dispose of the bodies.
Along with Mr Haines, who was from Perth, the group – which had its name derived by virtue of their English accents – killed Manchester aid worker David Henning and three other American hostages.
US officials are hoping Kotey and Elsheikh, who were captured in Syria last month, will direct search teams to the graves, before attempts are made to have them extradited for trial.
Emwazi, 27, is said to have been killed in a drone strike in 2015. Another cell member, Aine Davis, 33, was jailed in Turkey last May for plotting an attack in Istanbul.
Mr Haines was serving as a humanitarian aid worker when he was captured in March 2013. The 44-year-old was held captive for 18 months before he was executed in September 2014.
After being told of Kotey and Elsheikh’s arrest, Ms Haines said: “The first thought was relief, finally to know that the people that were involved in my dad’s murder have been caught and will sort of serve some justice.”
She added: “In my opinion, they shouldn’t be breathing but that’s not really a realistic kind of expectation.
“I think that they should be locked up with the key thrown away and never to be released.”
Mr Haines’ widow, Dragana, also said she wanted to seek her own retribution personally.
She said: “Bring those dogs to me. Or take me to where they are and grant me six hours alone with each of them.
“I promise they’d be alive after I’m done with them. Not sure they’d want to be, though.”
US officials are now attempting to extradite Koety, known as the “Ringo” of the Beatles terror cell, and Elsheikh, said to be “George”, to face trial.
If convicted, the pair could face the death sentence.
According to a former counter-terrorism regulator, both men should be brought back to the UK for trial.
Lord Carlile, an ex-independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said he was vehemently opposed to Kotey and Elsheikh being sent to Guantanamo Bay – the US military prison in Cuba.
He told the Observer that a British trial was the “proper forum” for justice.
I always hated the thought of him… in a shallow grave in a place he doesn’t know