A 72-year-old American business consultant who was kidnapped in Pakistan by al Qaeda more than two years ago appealed to President Obama in a video released Thursday to negotiate his release, saying he feels “totally abandoned and forgotten.”
The footage of Warren Weinstein was the first since two videos were released in September 2012.
Weinstein, the country director in Pakistan for J.E. Austin Associates, a US-based firm that advises a range of Pakistani business and government sectors, was abducted from his house in the eastern city of Lahore in August 2011.
In the video, sent anonymously Thursday to reporters in Pakistan, Weinstein calls on the Washington government to negotiate his release.
“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, and now when I need my government, it seems that I have been totally abandoned and forgotten,” Weinstein says in the 13-minute video.
“And so, I again appeal to you to instruct your appropriate officials to negotiate my release.”
The video was sent via e-mail with a letter purported to be from Weinstein.
The video was labeled “As-Sahab,” which is al Qaeda’s media wing, but its authenticity could not be independently verified.
The letter was dated Oct. 3, 2013, and in the video Weinstein notes that he has been in captivity for two years.
He wears a gray track- suit jacket and what appears to be a black knit hat, and has a beard.
Al Qaeda has said Weinstein would be released if the United States halts airstrikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, and also has demanded the release of all al Qaeda and Taliban suspects around the world.
The White House has called for Weinstein’s immediate release, but has said it won’t negotiate with al Qaeda.
The videos last year showed Weinstein appealing for help from the Jewish community and from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The release of the latest video comes amid ongoing turmoil in the Pakistan-Afghan region.
An American drone fired two missiles at a home in a northwestern tribal region of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, killing at least three foreign militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said Thursday.
Meanwhile, two Taliban rockets struck the US Embassy compound in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Christmas Day. No one was hurt.