Taliban release videos of kidnapped Swiss couple
The videos show the couple calling for Switzerland, the United States and Pakistan to meet the captors’ demands.
The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has released two videos of the kidnapped Swiss couple who have been held hostage for the past four months, swissinfo.ch reported on Tuesday.
The videos show the couple calling upon the governments of Switzerland, the United States and Pakistan to meet the captors’ demands.
The TTP, as reported earlier, said they would release the couple if the US freed Aafia Siddiqui, a female neuro-scientist sentenced in 2010 for terrorism and is currently held in the US prison.
“We call upon the Western world to put pressure on America for the release of Aafia Siddiqui,” TTP deputy chief Waliur Rehman had said. “If America does not agree to her release then our shura (council) will take a decision about the Swiss hostages,” he had added.
One of the hostages can be seen saying “our lives are at risk” if the demands are not met, in one video.
The Express 24/7 correspondent Iftikhar Firdous reported that the source of the video could not be confirmed.
TTP sources told the German news agency that the couple was still alive, although the videos made public on Tuesday were five weeks old.
The Swiss foreign ministry did not wish to comment when contacted by AFP, saying only that a crisis group was still working for the release of their two nationals.
Swiss nationals David Olivier, 31, and Widmar Daniela, 29, were abducted by unidentified gunmen in Loralai on July 1, according to media reports.
The videos show the couple calling upon the governments of Switzerland, the United States and Pakistan to meet the captors’ demands.
The TTP, as reported earlier, said they would release the couple if the US freed Aafia Siddiqui, a female neuro-scientist sentenced in 2010 for terrorism and is currently held in the US prison.
“We call upon the Western world to put pressure on America for the release of Aafia Siddiqui,” TTP deputy chief Waliur Rehman had said. “If America does not agree to her release then our shura (council) will take a decision about the Swiss hostages,” he had added.
One of the hostages can be seen saying “our lives are at risk” if the demands are not met, in one video.
The Express 24/7 correspondent Iftikhar Firdous reported that the source of the video could not be confirmed.
TTP sources told the German news agency that the couple was still alive, although the videos made public on Tuesday were five weeks old.
The Swiss foreign ministry did not wish to comment when contacted by AFP, saying only that a crisis group was still working for the release of their two nationals.
Swiss nationals David Olivier, 31, and Widmar Daniela, 29, were abducted by unidentified gunmen in Loralai on July 1, according to media reports.