Md. Man Taken Prisoner By Al-Qaeda Asking President For Help
ROCKVILLE, Md. (WJZ) -- A Maryland man is again pleading for the president's help after being kidnapped in Pakistan and held by al-Qaeda for more than two years.
In a video released Thursday, Warren Weinstein says he feels abandoned and forgotten.
Jessica Kartalija reports.
"It has been more than two years since I was taken prisoner by al-Qaeda," Warren Weinstein said.
Video just released by Warren Weinstein is the first time the U.S. has heard from him since a video last year.
"My life is in your hands, Mr. President," he said.
Weinstein, who lived in Rockville, was kidnapped from a house in Pakistan where he worked as a consultant for a Virginia firm.
"I am now over 72 years of age. I am not in good health. I have a heart condition, I suffer from acute asthma and the years have taken their toll," he said.
In 2011, kidnappers posing as deliverymen got past guards to Weinstein's room.
"Mr. Obama, you're a family man, and so you understand the deep mental anxiety and anguish that I have been experiencing," Weinstein said.
His kidnappers have said Weinstein can return home to Maryland if the U.S. halts airstrikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen and demanded the release of al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects around the world.
"I am therefore appealing to you, on a humanitarian basis if nothing else, and asking that you take the necessary actions to expedite my release," said Weinstein.
It's impossible to determine how much of Weinstein's statement was scripted by his captors.
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