Just catching up on this sad news having been in SE Angola for a few weeks.
There are many interesting posts on this thread. I wanted, though, to add another angle. I have long worried that the UK Foreign Office would be of no help if a UK citizen ran into trouble in the Sahara. They lack the contacts and an informed approach in these sort of hostage situations. Recall the Iran-UK Navy drama.
But I would not have predicted that the UK govt would simply abandon someone to their death. OK, if their principle is not to pay ransom and that leads to death of the hostage, then why not send in some special forces guys to see if they can do the liberation differently - as the French have done in the Somalia pirate attacks recently. If there's a real threat of death, then they may as well have a go.
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