LAHORE, Pakistan — A development expert who was kidnapped two weeks ago in Pakistan has been freed after an early morning raid.
Warren Weinstein, 70, was traced to Khushab city, 125 miles northwest of Lahore, after tip offs from arrested suspects.
He was abducted on August 13 after gunmen tricked his guards and broke into his home.
Mr Weinstein is the country director in Pakistan for J.E. Austin Associates, a U.S.-based firm that advises a range of business and government sectors.
Authorities were left baffled for more than a week as they were unable to determine who had kidnapped the American.
But that changed yesterday when police said they arrested three people suspected of belonging to the kidnapping gang.
Their arrests were made after officers tracked mobile phone numbers and the information they provided was critical to finding Mr Weinstein, Lahore police chief Malik Ahmed Raza said.
Kidnappings are common in Pakistan and foreigners are occasional targets.
Criminal groups are behind most abductions, but militants are also believed to use the tactic to raise money through ransoms.
Mr Weinstein, who has a home in Rockville, Maryland, worked in Pakistan for several years and spoke Urdu.
J.E. Austin Associates has stressed his commitment to Pakistan's economic development and said he worked with a wide range of government agencies, including the Pakistan Furniture Development Company and the Pakistan Dairy Development Company.
The company has also said that Mr Weinstein is in poor health and provided a detailed list of medications, many of them for heart problems.
It had implored the kidnappers to provide the medicines to the development expert.
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Operation to free 70-year-old development worker was 'unsuccessful,' intelligence official says
A Pakistani intelligence official denied reports Thursday that a kidnapped American development expert had been freed, saying an early-morning rescue operation was unsuccessful.
Speaking to NBC News, a U.S. Embassy official also denied that Warren Weinstein, 70, had been released.
Earlier, police told reporters that Weinstein had been rescued in Khushab in Punjab province. Reuters, The Associated Press and local television channels reported the release.
However, a senior intelligence official in Punjab later told Reuters that Weinstein "has not been recovered yet."
He criticized Lahore's police chief for claiming that Weinstein had been freed, saying the comments jeopardized an intelligence operation to rescue him.
"There was an operation in the Khushab area this morning, but it was unsuccessful, as the captors moved away," the intelligence official said.
Weinstein was abducted before dawn on Aug. 13 after gunmen tricked his guards and broke into his home in the eastern city of Lahore. He is the country director in Pakistan for J.E. Austin Associates, an Arlington, Va.-based consulting firm.
He had been working on a development project in Pakistan's northwestern tribal areas where Pakistani troops have been battling Islamist insurgents for years.
Authorities expressed frustration for more than a week that they didn't have solid clues about who arrested the American. But police said Wednesday they arrested three people suspected of belonging to the kidnapping gang.
Their arrests were made after officers tracked cell phone numbers, said Raza, the police chief. He did not provide the identities of the kidnappers.
Common tactic
Weinstein's abduction raised worries among aid workers, diplomats and other foreigners working in Pakistan, where anti-American sentiments run very high.
Kidnappings are common in Pakistan, and foreigners are occasional targets. Criminal gangs are suspected in most abductions, but militants are also believed to use the tactic to raise money through ransoms.
The Pakistani Taliban, linked to al-Qaida, have claimed responsibility for kidnapping a Swiss couple in July in the volatile southwestern province of Baluchistan.
Weinstein had been living in Pakistan for five to six years, according to police. He was based in Islamabad but had been traveling to Lahore
Weinstein, who has a home in Rockville, Maryland, speaks a fair amount of Urdu.
J.E. Austin Associates has stressed Weinstein's commitment to Pakistan's economic development and said he worked with a wide range of Pakistani government agencies, including the Pakistan Furniture Development Company and the Pakistan Dairy Development Company.
The company has also said Weinstein is in poor health and provided a detailed list of medications, many of them for heart problems. It implored the kidnappers to provide the medicines to the development expert.
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