U.S. Special Forces tried to rescue American hostage held by al Qaeda

Update: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Dec. 6, 2014, that Luke Somers was killed during a rescue attempt conducted Dec. 5, 2014.

There are grave concerns for an American held hostage by al Qaeda in Yemen, after word that a U.S. mission to rescue him failed.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) put out a video featuring the hostage and warned he has just days to live.

As he pleaded for help, Luke Somers gave no indication he was aware American commandos tried to rescue him late last month.

"I'm looking for any help that can get me out of this situation," Somers said in the video. "I'm certain that my life is in danger."

The attempt began Friday morning, Nov. 21, when the Joint Special Operations Command notified the Pentagon it had found the cave where Somers was being held, along with other hostages, and requested permission to conduct a rescue mission.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel signed off on the mission that afternoon and sent the request to the White House for the president's approval.

After a series of meetings on Saturday, the president's national security advisers approved the mission on Sunday morning -- even though surveillance of the cave had detected two hostages being taken away.

The president, who had spent much of the weekend in Nevada, gave the final go-ahead on Sunday afternoon, ordering the raid to be conducted during the "next period of darkness," which in Yemen was Monday night, Nov. 24.

American commandos flew into Yemen by helicopter and hiked to the cave. They killed six al Qaeda guards and rescued eight hostages, most of them Yemeni, but Somers was not there. He evidently had been one of the two hostages taken away from the cave.

A local al Qaeda leader warned the U.S. not to try another rescue.

Somers' brother and mother posted a video on YouTube Thursday, trying to convince his captors they had nothing to do with the raid.

"Please understand that we had no prior knowledge of the rescue attempt for Luke and we mean no harm to anyone," Jordan Somers said.

AQAP has given the U.S. three days to meet a set of unspecified demands or else Somers will face what the group called "his inevitable fate."