WASHINGTON — Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Za wah ri claimed in a recorded message released Thursday that the terrorist group is holding an American aid worker hostage in Pakistan, an assertion that U.S. intelligence officials said was credible.
The message marked the first time that al-Qaeda has asserted responsibility for the kidnapping of Warren Weinstein, the 70-year-old Pakistan director for a Virginia-based development contractor. He was abducted in August from his residence in Lahore.
Zawahri also listed demands for Weinstein’s release, calling for an end to airstrikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen as well as the release of Muslim prisoners, including Omar Abdul Rahman, the “blind sheik” who was convicted of conspiracy charges in connection with the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center in New York.
The Washington Post
