ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
A U.S. development worker kidnapped in Pakistan by al Qaeda two years ago appealed to President Barack Obama to intervene and help negotiate his release, in a video released on Thursday (December 26).
In a 13-minute clip issued by al Qaeda's media wing, As-Sahab, to the Washington Post 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 and the years have taken their toll. ... Needless to say I've been suffering deep anxiety every part of every day," he said.
"Nine years ago I came to Pakistan to help my government. I did so at a time when most Americans would not come here. 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 co
