In a 13-minute clip issued by al Qaeda's media wing and
posted on several news websites, Warren Weinstein, 72, looked
gaunt and tired.
"I am not in good health. I have a heart condition. I suffer
from acute asthma... Needless to say I've been suffering deep
anxiety every part of every day," he said.
"Mr President, for the majority of my adult life, for over 30
years I've served my country ... Now when I need my government
it seems that I have been totally abandoned and forgotten."
The video could not be independently verified.
Weinstein was abducted in 2011 in the eastern city of Lahore
where he worked for a U.S. consulting company.
Pakistan's tribal areas on its border with Afghanistan serve as
safe havens for al Qaeda, the Taliban and other militant groups,
and the Islamabad government has been under pressure from the
United States to do more to eliminate the insurgency.
(Reporting by Maria Golovnina; editing by Louise Ireland)
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