LONDON
British Prime Minister David Cameron who sent a letter to the family of the British surgeon Abbas Khan who died in Syrian custody earlier this week, called the doctor's death "sickening and appalling tragedy".
Adressing to the Khan's mother Fatima, Cameron noted in his letter, "Abbas' death is a sickening and appalling tragedy and it is right that the Syrian regime should answer for it." The plane carrying Khan's body arrived at London's Heathrow Airport on Sunday and then transferred to the Coroner's Court in east London's Walthamstow to carry out the post mortem tests.
In his letter, Cameron stated that his wife Samantha and he were very sorry to hear about the tragic death of her son. He continued saying, "Abbas' death is a sickening and appalling tragedy and it is right that the Syrian regime should answer for it. Their despicable treatment of him and refusal to engage with us to enable us to support him is utterly unacceptable. We will continue to press for those responsible to be held to account."
Cameron finished his letter with a hand-writing saying, "You are in our thoughts and prayers."
Following Khan's death reports, British Foreign Office Minister in charge of the Middle East, Hugh Robertson stressed last Tuesday that they were seeking urgent clarification about what had happened to Khan, and noted but his death was at best extremely suspicious.
An orthopedic specialist, Khan, 32, headed to Syria in November last year to provide assistance to the civilians who were injured during the civil war, but he was detained after 48 hours in the north of the country. The doctor had been kept under custody for 13 months in a prison in Damascus, and was expected to be freed on December 21.
After the death reports of Khan, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad claimed that Khan committed suicide using his pyjamas to hang himself. However, Khan's family stressed that Khan was murdered. The family blames Syrian intelligence regarding the death of the doctor.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
