Wife of Isis hostage pleads for his release in video

Barbara Henning, the wife of the British charity worker held captive by Isis militants has made a video plea for her husband to be released.

Alan Henning, a 47-year-old taxi driver from Salford, was kidnapped last December in Syria and is being held by Isis (also known as Islamic State) fighters. The Briton was working as part of an aid convoy in the north-western Syrian town of Ad-Dana when he was captured by the militant group - it was his second trip to the troubled state as a volunteer.

Last week Mrs Henning revealed she had received an audio message from her husband pleading for his life, and had been told that a Sharia court had found him innocent of being a spy.

In her latest address, she said:

We are at a loss why those leading Islamic State cannot open their hearts and minds to the truth about Alan's humanitarian motives for going to Syria and why they continue to ignore the verdict of their own justice system.

Surely those who wish to be seen as a state will act in a statesmanlike way by showing mercy and providing clemency.

I ask again, supported by the voices across the world, for Islamic State to spare Alan's life.

I have a further message for Islamic State. We've not abandoned Alan and we continue in our attempts to communicate with you. We have had no contact from Islamic State holding him other than an audio file of him pleading for his life.

Muslims across the globe continue to question Islamic State over Alan's fate. Their position regarding his statement is unequivocal. He is innocent. Some say wrong time, wrong place. Alan was volunteering with his Muslim friends to help the people of Syria. He was in the right place during the right time.

• Barbara Henning

More: Why publish this photo of Alan Henning - the latest hostage of Isis?

Additional reporting: Press Association