WEB: factbox #2442451

TYPE: CN ))

Al-Qaida has released a video showing an American hostage telling President Barack Obama that his captors will kill him if the U.S. leader does not meet the militant group's demands.

Monitoring groups said al-Qaida's media arm posted the nearly three-minute video of Warren Weinstein on jihadist forums Sunday. In the video, Weinstein speaks impassively and tells his wife he is in good health.

He appears dressed in a traditional tunic of the Pakistani-Afghan region and is seated behind a table with books and food on it.

It is unclear when the message was recorded. U.S. officials have not commented on the video.

Last December, al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri said in a video posted online that Weinstein would not be released until the United States ends its air strikes in Muslim countries. He also demanded the release of al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners.

A group of eight gunman snatched the 70-year-old Weinstein from his home in Lahore, Pakistan, last August just days before he was scheduled to return to the United States. He was serving as director in Pakistan of a U.S.-based development consulting company .