Kidnapped American not threatened in Pakistan

Pakistan

Kidnapped American not threatened in Pakistan

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American aid expert kidnapped at gunpoint in Pakistan had not been threatened, a colleague said.

15 August,2011 09:14 pm

Police have so far been clueless over the kidnap that saw Warren Weinstein struck on the head with a pistol and driven off, apparently without witnesses, from his home in Lahore by gunmen in the early hours of Sunday.There has been no claim of responsibility and the most officers have been able to establish is that he was targeted because of his nationality.We are unclear why Weinstein was kidnapped. We dont know what the motives are, said a senior Pakistani employee at JE Austin Associates, the Virginia-based consultancy for which the American works.Weinstein never told us that he received any threats. Had he received any threats, I certainly would have known. He was the country head of our organisation and had been here for the last seven years, said his colleague.The American had lived in Model Town, an upmarket Lahore neighbourhood once home to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, for five or six years, using the ground floor as an office and the first floor as a residence.His contract was expiring on August 15 and he was expected to leave Pakistan by end of this month, said the colleague.