US hostage Weinstein appears in Qaeda video: SITE

According to SITE the two minute, 40 second video was posted on jihadist forums by al Qaeda's media arm as-Sahab.


Afp May 07, 2012

HONG KONG: US hostage Warren Weinstein has appeared in an al Qaeda video for the first time since he was kidnapped in Pakistan in August last year.

According to the US monitoring service SITE, the two minute, 40 second video was posted on jihadist forums by al Qaeda's media arm as-Sahab on Sunday. There is no indication of when the video was made.

The elderly Weinstein, dressed in a traditional Pakistani tunic and speaking impassively to camera in English, tells his wife Elaine that "I'm fine, I'm well, I'm getting all my medications, I'm being taken care of".

He also urges US President Barack Obama to respond to the demands of his kidnappers.

Weinstein was snatched after gunmen tricked their way into his Lahore home on August 13, days before he was due to return to the United States.

He was country director for US-based consultancy JE Austin Associates, which does contracting work with the US Agency for International Development. He suffers from asthma, heart problems and high blood pressure.

Among its demands in exchange for Weinstein, al Qaeda has called for the release from US custody of "Blind Sheikh" Omar Abdul Rahman, Ramzi Yousef and Sayyid Nosair, who are tied to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Al Qaeda had also demanded the release of the family of Osama bin Laden. The wives and children of the terror group's late founder were deported from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia last month.

"If you accept the demands, I live; if you don't accept the demands, then I die," Weinstein told Obama in the video, which showed the hostage sitting in a room in front of a white sheet, behind a table with books and food on it.

COMMENTS (7)

US CENTCOM | 11 years ago | Reply

Western aid workers come to Pakistan for their love of humanity. Most are humanitarian workers supporting a non-profit aid organization. It is inhuman and barbaric to kidnap or kill these people who choose to voluntarily help suffering humanity. Did we not see Dr. Khalid Dale, an elderly British aid worker for the Red Cross killed in Quetta last week? Was he not a Muslim? Not that his religion matters, but it shows that, in their hatred and to support their evil agenda, innocent people, without the regard for their profession or their age, are kidnapped and killed!

This depicts their mentality and shows that they have no respect or regard for human lives. They have no remorse in killing innocent people. Time has come to protect the land, and its people including those who travel to Pakistan to help poor people. This can only be done through the mutual cooperation of our nations.

Maj David Nevers DET-United States Central Command www.centcom.mil/ur

Cautious | 11 years ago | Reply

The true face of Al Qaeda -- takes a real brave "freedom fighter" to kidnap an elderly man who is spending his last days helping the people of Pakistan. Oh well - on the bright side only 1/4 of the people of Pakistan now think fondly of Al Qaeda - guess that's progress?

VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ