UPDATE:
ISIS has a released a new video showing the apparent beheading of David Haines:
Original story below.
British citizen David Cawthorne Haines appears at the end of ISIS’ Steven Sotloff beheading video, with the terror group threatening to make him its next execution victim.
Sotloff had similarly appeared at the end of the James Foley beheading video, with ISIS making a similar threat that it later carried out.
Here’s what we know about Haines and his horrifying situation.
1. He’s Was Taken Hostage in Early 2013
According to NBC News, Haines was abducted in Syria in early 2013. Prior to that he had been based in South Sudan while he worked for Nonviolent Peaceforce, a civilian peacekeeping group. An employee with the company told NBC that Haines was “ex-British military and very familiar with insecure locations … He was very caring, had a good sense of humor. He left the military and wanted to work for NGOs [non-governmental organizations].” The BBC reports that the British government have “known for months that ISIS had seized a Briton.”
2. He Was Based in Croatia
According to his LinkedIn page, Haines says that he’s based in Croatia. He writes on his page that he has “23 years of working experience in ever increasing positions of responsibility within privates, NGO and military environments.”
Haines also worked for a company called Military Sales & Service from January 1988 – October 1999 where he worked in various roles. Among those roles was “threat assessments in a number of different countries.”
3. He’s Married With a Child
Haines married a Croatian woman, Dragana Prodanovic Haines, in November 2010. She works as an executive to a kitchen supply company. The couple appears to have one daughter.
Dragana Prodanovic wrote under this picture, “This is my world.”
4. Haines Helped to Rebuild Croatia
While living in Croatia, Haines was a project manager for a company, ASB, charged with helping to rebuild Croatia after the Yugoslavian War.
5. The British Government Is Likely to Come Down Hard on ISIS
In August, UK Prime Minister David Cameron urged for more military action against ISIS. The PM said:
If we do not act to stem the onslaught of this exceptionally dangerous terrorist movement, it will only grow stronger until it can target us on the streets of Britain. We already know that it has the murderous intent.
The British government has already been supplying Kurdish fighters who are fighting ISIS with military equipment.