Khalil Dale: Red Cross tells of talks with kidnappers

The International Committee of the Red Cross has spoken of its attempts to free kidnapped UK aid worker Khalil Dale before he was murdered. The 60-year-old was kidnapped in Quetta, Pakistan, in January. His body was found in the same town on Sunday. ICRC spokesman Sean Maguire said it had been in touch with his abductors "a number of times". Pakistan expert Professor Shaun Gregory said such a killing was "actually quite rare" in that country. Mr Maguire also said the death of Mr Dale, who was a Muslim convert, would weigh heavily on his colleagues. "It's a complex political reality on the ground in Pakistan. We're certainly not identifying who we were in touch with. "Often in these sorts of places people say they are something and it turns out that they're not quite what they say they are. "So we have to sift through the information we have and try to come to understand what has happened and take what lessons there are to be learnt. "But his death will weigh heavily on colleagues working in Pakistan and colleagues working in headquarters who ultimately make the decisions about who goes where and who does what." ICRC director general Yves Daccord said: "All of us at the ICRC and at the British Red Cross share the grief and outrage of Khalil's family and friends. We are devastated." Prime Minister David Cameron said the killing was "shocking and merciless". Mr Cameron said: "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." Some reports say the militants holding Mr Dale had asked for a very large ransom which could not be paid. His body was found in an orchard with a note saying he had been killed by the Taliban, local police said. According to the BBC's Aleem Maqbool, the Pakistani government has said it will stop at nothing to find the perpetrators and punish them.