FBI Helped Broker Failed Warren Weinstein Ransom Deal
The FBI helped arrange a ransom payment from the family of Warren Weinstein, the Jewish-American government contractor who had been held hostage by al-Qaida from 2011.
News of the unsuccessful ransom attempt for Weinstein, who was accidentally killed in January by a U.S. drone strike, was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The family paid a “small amount” in 2012 to people who claimed to be guarding Weinstein, Reuters reported. They first had received proof that he was in their custody.
The FBI reportedly was aware of the payment. U.S. officials had said they would not negotiate with al-Qaida for his release as a matter of policy when it comes to hostages.
In the drone strike, U.S. forces had targeted an al-Qaida-linked compound in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area, the White House announced last week. Until the announcement, information about the raid had been classified.
Weinstein, 73, of Rockville, Md., was kidnapped in August 2011 in Lahore, Pakistan, while working for J.E. Austin Associates, a private company that advises Pakistani businesses. During his captivity, Weinstein appeared in several videos appealing directly to U.S. and even Israeli officials to effect his release.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!