Kidnappers threatened on Friday to kill an American employee of the United Nations within 72 hours and issued a grainy video of the blindfolded captive saying he was "sick and in trouble."
John Solecki would be killed unless authorities released 141 women the kidnappers claimed were being held in Pakistan, according to a letter accompanying the video, which was delivered to a Pakistani news agency.
The video and the demands indicated that Mr Solecki, the head of the UN refugee agency in Quetta, a city near the Afghan border, was alive and that his captors wanted to negotiate.
Mr Solecki, who appeared blindfolded and with a shawl draped over his shoulders in the 20-second clip, said his message was addressed to the United Nations.
"I am not feeling well. I am sick and in trouble. Please help solve the problem soon so that I can gain my release," he said.
The kidnappers have identified themselves as the Baluchistan Liberation United Front, suggesting a link to local separatists who have waged a long insurgency against Pakistan's government, rather than to the Taliban or al-Qaeda. >>> | Saturday, February 14, 2009
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