ICRC beg Pakistan not to broadcast execution video

The Red Cross on Monday appealed to the Pakistani media not to broadcast the execution video of its slain aid worker, whose mutilated and bullet-riddled body was found in Quetta yesterday. The appeal comes amidst widespread condemnation of Khalil Dale's killing, including by the Pakistan high commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan who described the killing as a "terrible, horrendous and barbaric act". The captors have reportedly announced that they would shortly release the execution video of the 60-year-old Dale. "We are investigating because these things happen in that area. We are trying to find out who they actually are, whether they are Pakistani Taliban or Afghani Taliban. They could be anybody because the game has become so murky in that area," Hasan said. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said there had been some contact with the kidnappers but could not release details about any ransom demand. ICRC spokesman Sean Maguire said the organisation had been in touch with Dale's captors "a number of times" and that "every effort" had been made to secure his release. Maguire told the BBC: "It is inappropriate to go into the details of any contact we had with the abductors...We did everything possible to try get Khalil out and we're very sad that our efforts failed." The Red Cross, he said, would now review its operations in Pakistan. "We said that we had some contact with the abductors but we wouldn't want to give succour to future kidnappers by saying we countenanced paying a ransom," Maguire said.