Aid worker killed ‘because of unpaid ransom’

Khalil Dale was abducted at gunpoint in January while working with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Baluchistan province.

His kidnappers left a note on his beheaded body, saying he had been killed because they had not received a ransom.

The 60-year-old Scot from Dumfries had been awarded the MBE for his humanitarian work overseas.

Mr Dale, who changed his name from Ken when he became a Muslim, was engaged to be married and had been living in Pakistan for nearly a year.

‘He knew the risks’

Friend and former colleague Sheila Howat worked with Mr Dale at Dumfries Infirmary, where he was a staff nurse, and had known him for 25 years.

She said: “It’s unbelievable what they’ve done to Ken. It’s soul-destroying. For someone who has given their life, devoted their life, to caring for others – it’s just so wrong.

“Ken was an absolutely lovely person who saw good in everybody. He wanted to make the world a better place for people who had nothing.

“This is why he went to all the war-torn countries to try to make things better, particularly for the children. He knew the risks. He was quite aware of them.”

Captors not known

Mrs Howat said Mr Dale’s fiancee, Anne, who is also a nurse, lives in Australia.

She added: “I was so happy that he had finally found happiness. I think their engagement happened quite recently.”

Mr Dale, who had shared a home with his mother in Dumfries until her death in 2007, also leaves a brother, who lives in New Zealand.

He was travelling home from a local school, in a clearly-marked ICRC vehicle, when kidnappers bundled him into a car in the city of Quetta on 5 January.

The identities of his captors are unknown, but the region is home to separatist and Islamist militants who have kidnapped for ransom before.

‘Shocking and merciless act’

Prime Minister David Cameron said: “I was deeply saddened to hear about the brutal murder of Khalil Dale – a man who was killed whilst providing humanitarian support to others.

“This was a shocking and merciless act, carried out by people with no respect for human life and the rule of law.

“Khalil Dale has dedicated many years of his life to helping some of the most vulnerable people in the world and my thoughts today are with his friends and family.”

Mr Dale had worked for the ICRC and the British Red Cross for many years, the charity said, having previously been posted in Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

British Red Cross chief executive Sir Nick Young said: “Khalil Dale has been a committed member of the Red Cross Red Crescent family for the last 30 years. He was a gentle, kind person, who devoted his life to helping others, including some of the world’s most vulnerable people.”