Surgeons Suicide In Syria

[tamborine]

UK Gov is blamed for negating responsibility of imprisoned Brit Citizen. Dr Khan went to Syria of his own accord. Wise Travellers should realise Brit Gov cannot always intervene when things go awry

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25420945

[Bazile]

Apart from the fact it was not a suicide

[tamborine]

Quite Baz, but we cant prove otherwise

[sandyRoe]

With hindsight it might have been safer for him if he'd went with an organisation like Medecins sans frontiers. They'd have been more savvy about possible dangers.

[EcclesCake]

Having frequently travelled against FCO advice I know that you have to accept the consequences.

He was well intentioned but should have taken on board the risks too.

[emmie]

Tambo
i didn't get a lot of response. I am not sure what the government could have done, or did do.

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/News/Question1298743.html

[barmy]

According to the news the FCO tried diplomatic channels but the Syrians refused any consulate meetings. Not much the FCO could do then! Sad though it is, Dr Khan should have had more sense than to go to a civil war area and stayed in Lebanon to help out the refugees instead.

[tamborine]

Thanx for linking your thread, emmie. Hopefully this serves as a warning to those planning support in war zones.

[Baldric]

Suicide, my a***!!!!

[emmie]

of course it wasn't, and i was surprised not to to have got more comments by our news Abers. I feel sorry for him and his family, but in the cold light of day why take this obvious risk. I know he went to do good, but he has now left his children fatherless.

[tamborine]

His family are broadcasting Brit Gov's neglect on all TV news channels & broadsheets. Unwarrented publicity imo from naive peeps.

[Zeuhl]

The safe return of Mr Khan was being touted as a positive PR move for the Assad regime who are desperate to garner support in the UK.

One can only wonder what was so bad that Mr Khan was likely to say about them that made his death worthwhile.

[emmie]

according to the brother, his mother went out there and said he only weighed 5 stone, if so he must have been near death...

[LazyGun]

It is indeed wise to consider travel advice, especially when going to a war zone. One should not just denigrate the actions of this man for that though, since he was motivated out of humanity and compassion, one imagines.

Those are worthy attributes. Not having anything to do with the case, I do not know why he did not travel with a group like MSF, and, once imprisoned in such circumstances there will be limits to what diplomatic negotiation can achieve. So it just seems to me, in part at least, that a grieving family are looking to come to terms with his death by assigning blame.

Based purely upon what I have seen, suicide does seem unlikely,but as Zeuhl has said, releasing him would have given Assads regime a PR boost, unless of course he was treated so abominably that his captors felt it was better to silence him.

[Peter Pedant]

Strongly strongly object to word 'suicide'


It would be bad enought if he had.... [commmitted suicide]

[Peter Pedant]

.

I think they arrested the fella and he got sucked into a huge malfunctioning erm judicial system. and then got lost

See 'Missing' with Jack Lemmon around 1980

[emmie]

i have seen that, its harrowing. This man though was warned, not just by family, doing good works is one thing, going through the right channels would have been better, it seems he chose not to. Sorry his family are now minus a husband and father.