Concern grows for American kidnapped in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD — Concern was growing Friday for the safety of American development expert Warren Weinstein, who was kidnapped from home in Pakistan in August.
Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri said in an audio recording issued on Islamist websites late Thursday that his organization had captured "this man who has had an active part in American aid to Pakistan since the seventies."
However, sources told NBC News on Friday that there were strong indications that Weinstein, 70, had been passed to a dreaded faction of the Pakistani Taliban.
They said he was presently in the custody of militants led by Commander Tariq Afridi, operating in the gun-manufacturing, semi-autonomous tribal region of Darra Adamkhel.
It is the same militant group that kidnapped a Polish engineer, Piotr Stancza, from Attock area of Punjab province on Sept. 28, 2009. Stancza was later executed after their demands for money and a release of prisoners were not met by the government.
Some sources said that Weinstein was kidnapped by another group and later sold to Afridi, NBC News reported.
Ruthless
He is considered the most ruthless among his militant colleagues and is known for his harsh policies.
In the al-Qaida Internet statement, Zawahri said the group's demands for Weinstein's release included the release of all those held by the United States at the Guantanamo detention center and all others imprisoned for ties to al-Qaida or the Taliban. The statement was translated by the SITE group, which says it monitors the "jihadist threat."
He also demanded an end to air strikes by the United States and its allies against militants in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia and Gaza.
Zawahri specifically demanded the release of high-profile militants including Ramzi Yousef, imprisoned in the United States for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, and Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, serving a life sentence for plotting to attack the U.N. headquarters and other New York City landmarks.
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