Al-Qaida Takes American Hostage

Al-Qaida is holding an American aid worker who was kidnapped in Pakistan last August, the terrorist group's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has claimed in a video posted on the Internet, according to the SITE terrorism research group, which monitors jihadi websites.The abducted American the group claims to be holding is Warren Weinstein, a 70-year-old development expert and former U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) official, who was abducted from his home in Lahore, Pakistan on August 13, the CNN report said. However, Pakistani police authorities say they have no knowledge of the alleged abduction--nor confirmation that Weinstein is alive. "So far nobody has contacted us, nor given any demands," said senior police official Ali Aamir Malik, according to AFP. "We do not have proof of life of the US national who had been kidnapped."On the recent video, al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian doctor who succeeded Osama bin Laden as the chief of al-Qaida, "listed eight conditions for Weinstein's release," CNN reported. Among them: "the halting of air strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, and the release of Muslim prisoners such as Abu Musab al-Suri, the 'Blind Sheikh' Omar Abdul Rahman, Ramzi Yousef, Sayyid Nosair, and relatives of Osama bin Laden."What do you think of this terrible situation?

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