Widow of Emwazi victim: 'I regret that he was not captured alive'
The widow of one of the victims of allegedly killed British Islamic State militant Mohammed Emwazi stated on Friday she would rather he had been captured but was glad there was "one monster less" in the world.
"I have heard the news, but it doesn't bring me any comfort because nothing will bring back my husband," said Dragana Prodanovic Haines, the Croatian wife of aid worker David Haines, who was kidnapped by IS and killed last year.
"I regret that he was not captured alive, but at least he will not kill any more people," she told AFP by phone from Croatia, where she lives with their five-year-old daughter.
Though it has proved difficult to confirm whether Emwazi was killed in a series of air strikes in the IS stronghold of Raqqa in Syria, US sources are apparently "reasonably certain", according to AFP.
The reported killing of Emwazi on Friday provoked a strong reaction from the British political establishment, which has alternated between praise at his death and concern that he was not brought to trial.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron praised the news saying that his death was an act of "self-defence" and would "strike at the heart" of IS.
However, Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the UK's opposition Labour party, said it would have been much better had Emwazi been put on trial.
"It appears Mohammed Emwazi has been held to account for his callous and brutal crimes," said the Labour leader.
"However, it would have been far better for us all if he had been held to account in a court of law. These events only underline the necessity of accelerating international efforts, under the auspices of the UN, to bring an end to the Syrian conflict as part of a comprehensive regional settlement."
Some members of Corbyn's own party, however, responded to his statement with incredulity.
"Look, why couldn't the police just go an arrest Emwazi? It's not as if it's a really dangerous war zone & I'm sure he'd have come quietly," wrote Ian Austin MP, sarcastically commenting on Twitter.
Cage, the organisation that campaigns on behalf of Muslim prisoners, stated in a press release that it condemned "extrajudicial killing of any kind" and said that Emwazi should have been tried as a war criminal.
"His death does not bring Jim back," said the couple.
"If only so much effort had been given to finding and rescuing Jim and the other hostages who were subsequently murdered by ISIS, they might be alive today."
Raffaello Pantucci of the Royal United Services Institute told AFP that he thought the death would make little difference and that a "martyr culture" could end up being created around Emwazi.
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