Al-Qaida Says It Is Holding US Hostage in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD — Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri says the group is holding an American aid expert kidnapped three months ago in Pakistan.

Al-Zawahri said in a video message Thursday that Warren Weinstein would be released if the United States stopped airstrikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The video was posted on militant websites and released Thursday by SITE, a group that monitors militant activity.

Weinstein was abducted by armed men from his house in the eastern city of Lahore on Aug. 13.

Police and U.S. officials have not publicly said who they believe to be holding him.