Alan Henning's Wife Pleads with Islamic State for his Release

The wife of British aid worker Alan Henning has issued a statement Saturday requesting the Islamic State, who are holding him hostage, to release him.

"Alan is a peaceful, selfless man who left his family and his job as a taxi driver in the U.K. to drive in a convoy all the way to Syria with his Muslim colleagues and friends to help those most in need," his wife Barbara said in a statement released through Britain's Foreign Office late  Saturday..

"His purpose for being there was no more and no less. This was an act of sheer compassion," she said, reports the Associated Press.

Alan Henning, 47 was kidnapped in December in Syria after he crossed from Turkey as part of an aid convoy taking medical supplies to a hospital.

The Islamic State militants, which control large swathes of land in Iraq and Syria, have already killed three western hostages. The militant group had released videos showing the killing of American journalist James Foley and Steven Sotloff. It also released a video after killing British aid worker David Haines. In the video showing the killing of Haines,  they threatened that Henning would be the next victim if British Prime Minister David Cameron did not relinquish his support for the fight against the militant group.

Barbara Henning also said she had tried to contact the militants but received no response.

"I pray that the people holding Alan respond to my messages and contact me before it is too late ... I implore the people of the Islamic State to see it in their hearts to release my husband," she said, reports Reuters.

Meanwhile, many Muslim leaders of Britain have asked the Islamic State to release Henning.

Several imams and Muslim organizations signed a statement last week elaborating their revulsion of  the killing of the three hostages including David Haines, reports AP.