British national killed in Syria

A British national killed in Syria had travelled to the country to fight the government's regime, it has been reported.

The man, named in media reports as 22-year-old Londoner Ali Almanasfi, is said to have been killed alongside an American woman and another Westerner while taking photographs of military positions in Idlib province, near the Turkish border.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which opposes President Bashar Assad's government, has reportedly suggested the trio were working with rebels.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We understand that a British national has been killed in Syria. His family has been informed and we are providing consular assistance."

Mr Almanasfi had grown up in London but his Muslim family descended from Damascus, the Guardian reported, and a friend of the 22-year-old told the newspaper that he had recently become more religious.

Tam Hussein, a journalist who has worked in the Middle East, added: "When the conflict broke out in Syria I noticed his attention turned increasingly towards his country of origin.

"Over the phone he would express his distaste for what the regime was doing, especially after the Darayya massacre.

"But I didn't suspect that he was thinking of going there."

Relatives of the American woman, Nicole Lynn Mansfield, aged 33 from Michigan, were "stunned" that she had gone to Syria but said she had lived a mysterious life since converting to Islam.

Britain has withdrawn all diplomats from Syria amid the escalating bloodshed.