Family criticises British government over death of surgeon in Syria

The family of a British surgeon who died after more than a year in detention in Syria have accused the UK foreign office of not doing enough to secure his release.

Abbas Khan (32), an orthopaedic surgeon from Streatham, south London, was seized by government troops in the rebel-held city of Aleppo in November last year after he entered the country on a humanitarian mission without a visa.

He was due to be released at the end of the week, but yesterday his brother Afroze Khan announced he had died.

Foreign office minister Hugh Robertson said there was “no excuse” for Dr Khan’s treatment and that Syrian authorities had “in effect murdered a British national who was in their country to help people injured during their civil war”. He also said the government was seeking “urgent clarification” about Dr Khan’s death, which was “at best extremely suspicious”.

Shahnawaz Khan, another of Dr Khan’s brothers, said the foreign office had not acted quickly enough and that the family had warned it of the dire threat to him for more than a year. “It is interesting for the foreign office to take that line now. We have been telling them for 13 months that this is a very real possibility,” he told the BBC.

“This individual was out there helping the humanitarian effort and has been held for 13 months against his will without a charge or a trial or access to a lawyer, and they have offered very little assistance.”

Mr Khan said the family were “in utter despair” at his death just a few days before he was due to arrive home.

Syrian deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad told the BBC Dr Khan took his own life, but the family rejected this as “complete fiction”. – (PA)