Burial Thursday for UK doctor found dead in Syrian jail

Abbas Khan, the British doctor who died in a Syrian jail in disputed circumstances, will be buried on Thursday, his family said, as they await post-mortem results. Syria claims Khan, who was arrested last year after travelling to Aleppo to treat wounded civilians, committed suicide. But a British minister has claimed he was "in effect murdered" by the regime. The family has dismissed Syria's assertion that the 32-year-old orthopaedic surgeon took his own life just days before he was due to be freed and handed over to a British lawmaker. In a statement on behalf of the family, their lawyer Nabeel Sheikh said the funeral prayer would be held at midday (1200 GMT) on Thursday at the London Central Mosque. "Dr Khan will then be taken to Ilford, east London, to be laid to rest. Anyone who wishes to pay their respects is welcome to attend," he said. Doctor Nat Carey, one of Britain's leading forensic pathologists, conducted the post-mortem on Monday, with the results expected this week. They will be passed to a coroner, who will decide if they are suspicious enough to warrant a formal inquest. Carey was asked by the family to participate in the autopsy, along with a pathologist from Britain's interior ministry. Sheikh told AFP on Sunday that they would be looking for signs of torture. Khan's body was escorted out of Syria on Saturday by the International Committee of the Red Cross and returned to family members waiting in Lebanon.