Abbas Khan: surgeon killed in Syrian jail is a ‘superhero’ to his children

 
Heart-breaking: Abbas Khan with his son Abdullah who wrote to him in prison (Picture: PA)
Anna Dubuis29 October 2014

The children of a London surgeon who was killed in a Syrian jail will always remember him as a “superhero”, his sister said today.

Abdullah, seven, and eight-year-old daughter Rurayya wrote heart-breaking letters to Dr Abbas Khan while he was being held by President Assad’s forces after he was captured during a mission to treat wounded civilians.

Dr Khan’s sister Sara, 24, said: “I didn’t want his children to grow up with any doubts. We told them he went to help people who had been hurt. They are proud of their father.

“They will always think of him as a superhero. When your father is a surgeon you already think he is a superhuman character, and now even more so.” His family have shielded the children from the regime’s claims that Dr Khan, 32, from Streatham, hung himself a week before his promised release last Christmas, after 13 months in jail.

The family’s campaign for justice was vindicated at the Royal Courts of Justice this week in a ruling that will intensify their efforts to take the case to the International Criminal Court.

Dismissing claims that Dr Khan committed suicide, Judge Peter Thornton, the chief coroner, said: “It is clear that he wanted to use his medical skills to help others.”

The judgment followed the efforts of his mother Fatima Khan, who travelled alone to Syria to beg for mercy.

In his letter, Abdullah wrote: “Dear baba, even if I smile when you’re not here I am not happy inside”, while Rurayya wrote: “I miss you so much and wish you will come back very soon and safely. You are my star.”

Ms Khan said: “They talk about him all the time. He’d take them everywhere. He was leading a busy life at work and yet he managed to juggle that and still give his full attention to his children.”

She said the inquest jury’s verdict of unlawful killing was “one small step” towards justice: “We will continue to push until someone from the regime gives us answers.”

The family has criticised Whitehall for failing to put pressure on the regime and Mr Khan’s brother Shah said: “We very much feel that the Government broke our trust and our hearts.”

Tobias Ellwood, Foreign Office minister for the Middle East, said: “His family deserve answers.”

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