Jewish-American al-Qaeda hostage was killed in US drone strike
Obama ‘takes full responsibility’ for death of Warren Weinstein and second hostage in January attack on terror group’s compound
WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama said Thursday he takes “full responsibility” for a US counterterrorism mission that inadvertently killed a Jewish American and an Italian held hostage by al-Qaeda. He defended the legality of the January drone strike against an al-Qaeda compound and said there had been no information suggesting the hostages were at that location.
“Based on the intelligence that we had obtained at the time, including hundreds of hours of surveillance, we believed that this was an al-Qaeda compound, that no civilians were present and that capturing these terrorists was not possible,” Obama said in remarks from the White House. “And we do believe that the operation did take out dangerous members of al-Qaeda.”
Among the al-Qaeda operatives believed killed in the strike was American Ahmed Farouq, who the White House says was an al-Qaeda leader. US officials have also concluded that Adam Gadahn, an American who had served as a spokesman for the terror network, was killed in a separate operation in January.
The president made no mention of Farouq and Gadahn. Instead, he focused his remarks on American Warren Weinstein, who had been held by al-Qaeda since 2011, and Italian Giovanni Lo Porto, who had been held since 2012.
Obama expressed regret for the deaths of the two men and offered his “grief and condolences” to their families.
Earlier Thursday a US government official said one drone strike was carried out on January 14 and the other on January 19.
In late August 2014, al-Qaeda urged the family of captive US government contractor Weinstein to pressure the government to negotiate his release or risk his “dying a lonely death.”
“If you want Warren Weinstein to be released, do whatever you can to (pressure) your government,” the terror group said in a statement posted on Islamist websites.
“Your continued silence on the inaction of your government will only lead to your prisoner dying a lonely death in prison after this deliberate and prolonged neglect on the part of your government.”
Weinstein, 73, of Rockville, Maryland, was kidnapped in August 2011 outside Pakistan while he was working for J.E. Austin Associates, a private company that advises Pakistani businesses.
In January, a video message featuring Weinstein, a former Peace Corps and USAID official, was sent to journalists and news services in Pakistan along with a link to a photo of a handwritten note.
— JTA contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.