Warren Weinstein, U.S. man held hostage by al Qaeda, appeals to Obama in video

(AP) ISLAMABAD - A 70-year-old American aid worker kidnapped nine months ago in Pakistan said in a video released by al Qaeda that he will be killed unless President Barack Obama agrees to the militant group's demands.

The video posted on militant websites Sunday followed one issued in December in which al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri said Warren Weinstein would be released if the U.S. stopped airstrikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. He also demanded the release of all al Qaeda and Taliban suspects around the world.

"My life is in your hands, Mr. President," Weinstein said in the new video. "If you accept the demands, I live; if you don't accept the demands, then I die."

It was unclear when the video was recorded.

The White House had no comment Monday on al Qaeda's demands or Weinstein's plea.

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A woman who answered the phone Monday at a number listed for Weinstein in Rockville, Md., said she had no comment when an Associated Press reporter identified herself. Phone messages left for Weinstein's relatives were not immediately returned.

Weinstein was abducted in August in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore after gunmen tricked his guards and broke into his home. He was the country director in Pakistan for J.E. Austin Associates, a U.S.-based firm that advises a range of Pakistani business and government sectors.

"It's important you accept the demands and act quickly and don't delay," Weinstein said in the video, addressing Obama. "There'll be no benefit in delaying. It will just make things more difficult for me."

U.S. hostage Warren Weinstein is seen in a video released by al Qaeda on May 6, 2012.

/ CBS

Weinstein spoke while sitting down in front of a white background. He wore a white shalwar kameez, the loose-fitting clothing common in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. Several books and what appeared to be a plate of food were set in front of him. Weinstein took several bites of food as he spoke.

He appealed to Obama as a father. If the president responds to the militants' demands, Weinstein said, "then I will live and hopefully rejoin my family and also enjoy my children, my two daughters, like you enjoy your two daughters."

The video was released by Al-Sahab, al Qaeda's media arm. It was first reported by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant messages.

After his kidnapping, Weinstein's company said he was in poor health and provided a detailed list of medications, many of them for heart problems, that it implored the kidnappers to give him.

In the video released Sunday, Weinstein said he would like his wife, Elaine, to know "I'm fine, I'm well, I'm getting all my medications, I'm being taken care of."

Mike Redwood, a friend of Weinstein's from Somerset, England, said he watched the video Monday morning and said he had mixed feelings. He said he was grateful that Weinstein is alive — or at least was alive when the undated video was shot — but remains dismayed to see his friend in such dire circumstances.

"He's more capable of withstanding these circumstances than anybody else I know," Redwood said, "But it doesn't take away from feeling really depressed at seeing him there."

He said he thought Weinstein's neutral delivery was appropriate under the circumstances.

"I think he said it in measured tones that indicate that while he's under duress and in captivity, he knows what he's doing and in control and capable of managing himself, which was always what you would expect of Warren," Redwood said.

Redwood said he hoped he could take Weinstein at his word that he was getting his medications and being treated well. He said the poor image quality of the video made it difficult to gauge his health.

Redwood, a leather industry consultant, met Weinstein when they worked together on a plan to enhance the Pakistani leather industry. He has not spoken to Weinstein's family.

[MaryofAz]

So the snakes caught and old white American.
The snakes have bounties on Americans which has become routine for them. This is all these snakes know, they capture, conquer, kill, destroy, cut off heads, burn, blow up and on and on and on. That is what they do. This poor man is in a bad place with bad people but we cannot negotiate with these barbarians. Anyone that travels in that part of the world needs to be ready to home to GOD because these snakes are our not going to stop until they are dead.

[flyingeyeball]

"We do not negotiate with terrorists." - George W. Bush
Let the guy die. OR find out where they are and attempt to save the man's life. That would be really cool.

[wildemanne]

like your first statement f-e-b

[rtnt05]

Diplomacy has been as helpful as dog fleas in solving the Afghan, Iraq, Iran problems. An entire generation of orphans, misfits & miscreants has been brainwashed into becoming terrorist minions. The only solution, albeit unsavory, is to eliminate mass areas of these misanthropes and to continue to do so until the major part of the infection is "cured". Problem is no westerner has the balls to do it.

[mqbitsko]

Correct response: "Release our man immediately. If he is harmed, 100 Al Qaeda prisoners will be executed by transufsion with pig blood, and their bodies fed to pigs."

Note to "aid workers": There are an awful lot of people in need of your help in places where you WON'T end up being held prisoner by mad dog fanatics. Are those people any less deserving than Pakistanis? Go volunteer at your local soup kitchen. Stop putting your countrymen in a position to have to deal with YOUR idiocy.

[wildemanne]

stay out of hell, avoid the middle east, nobody sane lives in hell expecting 50 virgins who have no idea what to do with a man? that's heaven? give me a break

[kabbalahinfo]

It goes to show that any westerner who helps Arabs and Muslims is like any westerner who helped the Nazis, they end up dead.

[AntonCIII]

here ya go:

lastly, pakistan is the last place for a jewish american should be, working for a development contractor that has received millions of dollars from the aid arm of the U.S.

[TG85]

Obama wont give a crap about this individual.

He is an American citizen and we've been killing innocent citizens of the middle east for the past 11 years. We need to get out of the middle east. WHY ARE WE STILL THERE!?

[blah193]

I doubt Obama will help this poor guy because he only helps black people. Tell me how that is not racist along with the ties he probably has with the terrorists too.

[NashSimon]

This is infuriating. Make it clear to these islamic POS subhumans; if you harm another American citizen we will kill you, your family and any of your barbaric islamic accomplices.

[rsrd62]

I am sorry but this is an American citizen, maybe stupid one, but one none the less. If he dies, it is an insult to us all that cannot go unanswered. Any one of us may be next. This organization must be hunted down like the vermin they are and exterminated no matter where they call home. Remember 911. It will happen again unless we play hardball....