STATEMENT TO THE MEDIA FROM THE FAMILY OF WARREN WEINSTEIN

January 2, 2014, Rockville, MD – After watching the video (http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/world/kidnapped-government-contractor-appears-in-video-message/2013/12/25/b884b2ee-6dd8-11e3-b405-7e360f7e9fd2_video.html) and viewing the letter sent on December 25, 2013, to the Washington Post featuring Warren Weinstein, here is our collective family statement to the media. This will be our final comment on the video until further developments.

“Warren Weinstein’s family—his wife, two daughters, son-in-law and grandchildren—wish to say that we love him deeply and miss him in our lives desperately. We are extremely concerned about his health and implore his captors to attend to his medical needs. More importantly, we ask that they find it in their hearts to release him immediately so he may return home to us for the additional urgent care he needs. These past two years have been very painful for our family, and clearly very hard on him.”

“Warren Weinstein is a scholar and a humanitarian who has spent his entire career working to improve the lives of men, women and children around the world. Prior to his abduction, he spent seven years in Pakistan working to improve local communities through projects related to dairy production, farming and health care. To be captured and held against his will after a life spent helping others, especially in the sunset of his proud career, is unacceptable. We urge the global community to help us bring him home.”

“We are grateful to US Congressman Delaney for his efforts on our behalf. We are grateful to both national and international media in their efforts to keep his story alive and assist us in finding out what is being done to secure his return. We especially want to thank Ernesto Londoño of the Washington Post for alerting us to the existence of the hand-written letter and video.”

“We still need date-specific confirmation that Warren is alive and well because it is not clear when the video was made. We have been told that the US government is doing what it can to assist in his return, but are not aware of what those efforts are to date. We look forward to hearing more through official channels.”

“We hope his video will motivate other humanitarians around the world to assist in this effort to bring him—and others held in captivity—home. We will never stop working to achieve this goal. Thank you for your compassion, assistance and prayers.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT:  

Cathie Bennett Warner: cell: 415-420-1573, email: cathie@cbwgroup.net