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White House not to negotiate with al-Qaeda on hostage

Xinhua, May 8, 2012

• The White House said on Monday it will not negotiate with al-Qaeda about a U.S. hostage being held by the militant group who made a video plea with President Barack Obama.

  "The U.S. government will continue making every effort to see Mr. Weinstein released safely to his family, but we cannot and will not negotiate with al-Qaeda," said White House spokesman Jay Carney at a daily briefing.

  Carney said the Obama administration condemns "in strongest terms" the kidnapping and calls for the immediate release of Warren Weinstein, a 70-year-old aid worker for U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

  Weinstein appeared in a video released on Sunday for the first time since he was abducted last August in Pakistan. He urged Obama to agree to the demands of al-Qaeda, which claimed the responsibility of the kidnapping last December.

  "My life is in your hands, Mr. President," he said. "If you accept the demands, I live. If you don't accept the demands, then I die."

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