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Al-Qaida Video Shows US Hostage


Jan. 6, 2009 file image shows Warren Weinstein, who was abducted by gunmen from his home in Lahore, Pakistan, Aug. 13, 2011.
Jan. 6, 2009 file image shows Warren Weinstein, who was abducted by gunmen from his home in Lahore, Pakistan, Aug. 13, 2011.
Al-Qaida has released a video showing an American hostage telling President Barack Obama that his captors will kill him if the U.S. leader does not meet the militant group's demands.

Monitoring groups said al-Qaida's media arm posted the nearly three-minute video of Warren Weinstein on jihadist forums Sunday. In the video, Weinstein speaks impassively and tells his wife he is in good health.

He appears dressed in a traditional tunic of the Pakistani-Afghan region and is seated behind a table with books and food on it.

It is unclear when the message was recorded. U.S. officials have not commented on the video.

Last December, al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri said in a video posted online that Weinstein would not be released until the United States ends its air strikes in Muslim countries. He also demanded the release of al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners.

A group of eight gunman snatched the 70-year-old Weinstein from his home in Lahore, Pakistan, last August just days before he was scheduled to return to the United States. He was serving as director in Pakistan of the U.S.-based development consulting company J.E. Austin Associates.
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