Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of an American man in Pakistan and demanded the release of prisoners and an end to air strikes in Muslim countries in exchange for his freedom, according to an Internet statement. Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri also said in an audio recording issued on Islamist websites late on Thursday that a senior al Qaeda leader based in Pakistan known as Attiyatullah had been killed in a US air strike in August.
"Just as the Americans detain all whom they suspect of links to al Qaeda and the Taliban, even remotely, we detained this man who has had an active part in American aid to Pakistan since the seventies," SITE quoted Zawahri as saying in the recording.
The US State Department is aware of the statement and continues to work with Pakistani authorities leading the investigation, a spokeswoman said. Assailants kidnapped Warren Weinstein, an American development expert, in the Lahore in August. Weinstein, about 70 years old, had been working on a project in tribal areas. "We remain concerned for Weinstein's safety and well-being," said Joanne Moore, spokeswoman for the State Department.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.