Police confirm execution of hostage

The brother of a Scottish hostage killed in the Algerian gasfield terror siege say that police have confirmed he was executed.

Kenneth Whiteside, a 59-year-old from Glenrothes, Fife, who lived in Johannesburg with his wife and two daughters, was a planning manager at the In Amenas desert complex.

Bob Whiteside, who lives in Crieff, Perthshire, told how he had learnt of his brother's death at the hands of Islamist terrorists from social networking site Facebook.

He told BBC Radio 4's The World At One programme: "We know now what's happened to Kenny but we actually had to find out for ourselves.

"We were not given any official information and it was through Facebook, of all things, that we found out of Kenny's demise.

"It was my daughter who found it on Facebook, a message from an Algerian co-worker.

"The police came last night and informed us that what was on Facebook was true, that Kenny had been... he was executed."

Asked how he felt the situation had been handled in Algeria, Mr Whiteside said: "It's just the way life is, I'm afraid.

"I don't hold any grudges against the Algerian army or anything because that's the way they work, that's their system and they weren't bothered about the hostages as such, they just wanted to get the camp cleared of all the terrorists. That was their main objective as far as I can see."

Mr Whiteside said his brother was a planning manager and had worked in Algeria for about five years.