A US government contract worker kidnapped by Al-Qaeda militants in 2011 has appeared in a video where he begs Obama and Kerry to negotiate with his captors in order to secure his release and reunite him with his family.
Warren Weinstein, 72, looked ill and emaciated in the 13-minute clip, which was released by Al-Qaeda to various reporters in Pakistan on Thursday.
“I am not in good health. I have a heart condition. I suffer from acute asthma. Needless to say I’ve been suffering from acute anxiety every part of every day,” he says.
Weinstein was abducted from his house in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore in August 2011 while serving as country director for JE Austin Associates - a US based firm that advises the Pakistani government and the private sector.