Story highlights
Warren Weinstein asks the Israeli prime minister to meet al Qaeda's demands
Weinstein is a U.S. development expert kidnapped a year ago in Pakistan
Last May, U.S. officials said they wouldn't negotiate with al Qaeda
An American worker abducted a year ago in Pakistan has asked “as one Jew to another” for Israel’s prime minister to intervene and meet al Qaeda’s demands in exchange for his release, according to a group that monitors militants.
Warren Weinstein makes his appeal in a video that was posted Wednesday on “jihadist forums,” said SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors the online activities of militant groups.
Weinstein, a development expert kidnapped in August 2011, asks Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to help him, as the American government has “no interest” in his case, the monitoring group quotes Weinstein as saying.
“Therefore, as a Jew, I am appealing to you, Prime Minister Netanyahu, the head of the Jewish State of Israel, as one Jew to another, to please intervene on my behalf, to work with the mujahideen and to accept their demands so that I can be released and returned to my family, see my wife, my children and my grandchildren again,” Weinstein says, according to SITE.
Last May, the U.S. government said it would not bargain with al Qaeda over the life of Weinstein, who also was filmed making an emotional plea to President Barack Obama.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said then that while the administration’s hearts go out to Weinstein and his family, “we cannot and will not negotiate with al Qaeda.”
In that earlier video, Weinstein stated: “My life is in your hands, Mr. President.
“If you accept the demands, I live. If you don’t accept the demands, then I die.”
Weinstein was captured after his kidnappers managed to overcome the three security guards who were protecting him.
As the guards prepared for the meal before the Ramadan fast, three men knocked at the front gate and offered food for the meal – a traditional practice among Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan, according to the Lahore police.
Once the gate was opened, the three men forced their way in while five others entered the house from the back, tied up the guards and duct-taped their mouths, according to the police.
They pistol-whipped the driver and forced him to take them to Weinstein’s room, where they also hit Weinstein on the head with a pistol and forced him out of the house and into a waiting car, the police said.
Weinstein was working for J.E. Austin Associates Inc., a consulting firm based in Arlington, Virginia. He has 25 years of experience in development, the firm’s website says.