Swiss Hostages in Pakistan Appear in Video

Posted October 25th, 2011 at 12:20 pm (UTC-5)
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A Swiss couple being held hostage by the Pakistani Taliban is asking officials to give in to their kidnappers' demands, in a video newly posted on the Internet.

The video was made available on the YouTube website Tuesday by the Pakistani think-tank FATA Research Center. The group does not say how it obtained the footage.

The couple speaks calmly in German, flanked by four gunmen. The man holds a newspaper dated September 15, 2011.

The Swiss couple were kidnapped in July in Pakistan's southwestern province of Baluchistan. The militants have demanded the United States release a Pakistani scientist jailed there in exchange for the couple's release.

Kidnappings for ransom are fairly common in Pakistan, and foreigners are occasional targets.

In another high-profile incident, an American development expert was kidnapped this past summer in the eastern city of Lahore. The 70-year-old, Warren Weinstein, was taken in August after eight gunmen overpowered security guards at his home. There were some reports that Weinstein had been freed two weeks later, but they proved to be untrue.