Brother’s pride: Yorkshire-born kidnap victim ‘died doing the job he loved’

A YORKSHIRE-born aid worker who was killed by his kidnappers in Pakistan knew the risks he faced and died doing the job he loved, his brother has said.

Khalil Dale, 60, was founded brutally murdered four months after being taken at gunpoint in a dangerous part of the country while he was working for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

His half-brother Peter Dale said yesterday that Khalil had understood the threats involved in carrying out humanitarian work and had wanted to help the people in Quetta.

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He also told the Yorkshire Post that his younger half-brother had just signed up to work for another year in Pakistan and had planned to marry his fiancée soon.

Khalil, who had spent the past 30 years working in some of the most dangerous parts of the world including Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia, was born in York in a private nursing home close to the Minster. His family moved to Manchester when he was a small child and then to Dumfries, Scotland, where he went on to work as a nurse.

He changed his name to Khalil from Kenneth when he converted to Islam.

Peter, who lives in Bramham, near Leeds, said: “Of course we are very proud of him. He was very brave to do what he did but he would not have seen it like this.”

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The pair have the same father, William Dale. Peter was 21 when Khalil was born. They last met up in September when Khalil spent a night in Bramham.

Peter urged him to quit humanitarian work but he was determined to carry on.

He said: “I call him Ken, because that is what he has always been to me. I told him he was mad but he said he absolutely loved it in Quetta. He thought it was wonderful to be working there.

“He knew his work was dangerous. He told me that once while he was in Somalia that a friend who was stood next to him had been shot. He led an incredible life.”

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He added: “I wish I had stayed in touch with him more. We found out about the kidnap as soon as it happened. It was not a total surprise because we knew he was working in a dangerous place.”

He praised the Red Cross for keeping him informed of the situation throughout the four-month ordeal. He told the Yorkshire Post it seemed wrong for his brother to have been targeted while he was working to help ordinary people in Pakistan.