An American contractor kidnapped by al-Qaida in Pakistan two years ago appears in a video that surfaced Thursday pleading with President Barack Obama to negotiate for his release and saying he feels “totally abandoned.”
Warren Weinstein, who was snatched from his home in Lahore in August 2011, appears weary and dejected in the 13-minute video bearing the stamp of As-Sahab, al-Qaida’s media operation.
“I am not in good health. I have a heart condition. I suffer from acute asthma,” Weinstein, 72, says in the video clip emailed to several journalists covering South Asia. “Needless to say, I’ve been suffering deep anxiety every part of every day.”
At the time of his kidnapping, Weinstein was working as Pakistan country director for J.E. Austin Associates, a U.S.-based firm that advises a range of Pakistani business and government sectors.
“Mr. President, for the majority of my adult life, for over 30 years, I’ve served my country,” Weinstein says in the video. “”Nine years ago I came to Pakistan to help my government, and I did so at a time when most Americans would not come here. Now when I need my government it seems that I have been totally abandoned and forgotten.”
It was impossible to tell how much Weinstein’s statement, made under the duress of captivity, was scripted by his captors. A phone message left with Weinstein’s family Thursday was not returned.
The video was accompanied by a letter purportedly written by Weinstein and dated Oct. 3, in which he expresses dismay that his situation has been ignored by the media as well as the U.S. government. The missive pleads for renewed attention to his plight to prevent his being forgotten and becoming “another statistic.”
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement that her office was “working hard” to authenticate the letter and video.
“We reiterate our call that Warren Weinstein be released and returned to his family,” the statement added.
U.S. policy rejects negotiating with terrorists to win release of their captives, but Weinstein proposed that Obama “take hard decisions” now that he is in his second term as president and needn’t worry about re-election consequences.
Weinstein suggested that the U.S. administration consider freeing some al-Qaida figures in its custody, although he didn’t mention anyone in particular.
Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri issued a statement four months after Weinstein’s kidnapping to say that the American would be released if the United States ceased airstrikes against militants in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen. Al-Zawahri also demanded release of all al-Qaida operatives in U.S. custody.
Pakistan’s tribal areas on its border with Afghanistan serve as safe havens for al Qaida, the Taliban and other militant groups, and the Islamabad government has been under pressure from the United States to do more to eliminate the insurgency.
The video, meanwhile, was the first news of Weinstein since September 2012, when the captive sent a similar appeal to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging him, “as one Jew to another,” to comply with al-Qaida’s demands for his release.
In the latest video, Weinstein can be seen wearing a grey track suit jacket and what appeared to be a black knit hat on his head. His face was partially covered with a beard.
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