Riots peacemaker Tariq Jahan travels to Syria with aid mission

A man whose son was killed in Birmingham during the 2011 riots is to take part in an aid mission to Syria.

Tariq Jahan, 47, appealed for calm after his son Haroon died protecting shops and homes in Winson Green.

His appeal was credited with helping to prevent the riots from escalating. He was later given a Pride of Britain award for his actions.

Mr Jahan is joining an aid convoy taking 1,000,000 kg (1,100 tons) of flour from Turkey into Syria.

He said he had been spurred on by the memory of his son to make the trip after being invited by the UK charity Human Appeal.

"Looking at the plight of young children and their parents is what affected me the most, it relates to my own situation," he said.

"People in Syria are losing family members and loved ones, hopefully I can relate to what they're going through and give them some sort of comfort while I'm out there."

Mr Jahan will travel to Turkey with an aid team from Human Appeal before crossing the border into Syria.

Zahid Rehman from the charity said: "He's going to see first hand the delivery of this flour which will hopefully feed 3m people in Syria.

"That's half the amount of people that are starving so a lot more work is needed but we are going someway to supporting that."