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Warren Weinstein is an American aid worker living in Pakistan who was kidnapped from his residence at gunpoint in the city of Lahore in Punjab on Saturday, the 13th of August 2011.

Background

Weinstein was posted in Pakistan as a country director of operations for the Virginia-based development company J.E. Austin Associates. His work reportedly involved supervising a four-year $11 million "competitiveness project", funded by the American government, which was involved in dairy, horticulture, furniture, and medical equipment projects. He speaks six foreign languages, is a Fulbright Scholar, has obtained a PhD in international law and economics from Columbia University and has 25 years of experience in international development projects. His current project was based in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in the northwest of the country. He was described to be a highly paid official. He is an adherent of the Jewish religion.

Weinstein's kidnapping came amid a time when Pakistan – United States relations were already suffering at an uneasy point, most lately following the death of Osama bin Laden in his compound in Abbottabad by American special forces which caused diplomatic controversy between the two countries. Earlier, the Raymond Allen Davis incident, which also occured in Lahore during the start of the year, and involved the shootout of three Pakistanis by a CIA contractor named Raymond Davis, resulted in a diplomatic spat. Following Weinstein's kidnapping, some people and press organisations in Pakistani media started speculating whether Weinstein was a CIA agent, pointing to the case of Raymond Davis and casting suspicions of whether Weinstein was also linked to CIA activities in Pakistan.

In an article titled "We are not all CIA agents" published in The Express Tribune, Michael Kugelman - a South Asia expert, dismissed the rumours. Expressing that he was upset over the claims, Kugelman admitted that "Americans in Pakistan have been and are connected to security contractor firms and intelligence agencies" and that it is also true that "many of the alleged conspiracy theories about CIA agents crawling around the country have been proven true" or that "development work" can be coded for spywork; however, he pointed out that branding every American in Pakistan as a CIA agent diminished the good deeds of the many who have nothing to do with the CIA and that it was unfair "because it sweepingly dismisses the highly beneficial work done by many Americans in the country." He acknowledged a trust deficit between citizens of the two states as contributing to such stereotypes.

About two weeks after Weinstein's disappearance, unknown armed men also kidnapped Shahbaz Taseer in Lahore, the son of Pakistani politician and former governor of Punjab Salman Taseer - who was assassinated by his own guard for his opposition to Pakistan's religious blasphemy law. A critique published in the Dawn newspaper strongly criticised the Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif for not doing enough in addressing the breakdown of law and order in the city. Another article in The Express Tribune blamed Rana Sanaullah, the law minister of Punjab, for the incompetence of Punjab's security apparatus.

Abduction

According to the media, Weinstein lived in the affluent Model Town neighborhood since 2006 and was snatched at the time of dawn, just two days before he was due to end his four-year-long post in Pakistan and return to the United States. Police said Weinstein travelled widely within Pakistan, and had returned to Lahore from Islamabad just a few days before.

There were a total eight kidnappers. The armed kidnappers arrived at his house just when the guards were having food and starting their Ramadan fasting in the early hours of morning. According to one of the guards, the kidnappers knocked and when the guard opened the door, he saw three men standing; the men offered meals to the guard and when he politely refused, five more men climbed and stormed into the house from the back door and overpowered all of Weinstein's guards by tying their hands behind their backs. They then forced Weinstein's driver to knock his bedroom door and grabbed Weinstein as soon as he responded by opening the door.

According to police, the manner in which the kidnapping was carried out was a case of organized crime, being extremely well planned and meticulously executed, ruling out the incident to be a scenario of kidnapping for ransom. The case has been transferred to the organised crime department. There were two cameras installed at separate entries of the house although they had been out of order for last two years. Weinstein's guards are still under interrogation following the capture.

No organisation or individual has yet claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. This was the second incident of the kidnapping of a Western citizen, following the Pakistani Taliban's abduction of a Swiss tourist couple a month earlier in Balochistan. Some sketches were released of the possible suspects involved in the kidnapping.

Aftermath and investigations

The U.S. embassy in Islamabad identified Warren Weinstein and said he worked for a private company. The US State Department revised and updated its travel warning for American citizens travelling to Pakistan in light of the kidnapping, advising care and caution to Americans in Pakistan and also making mention that Americans throughout Pakistan may be vulnerable to being kidnapped for ransom or for personal reasons. The Government of Pakistan assured Senator John McCain, who was on a visit to Islamabad just a day before the incident to meet President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, that it was doing all it could to recover Weinstein. Meanwhile, the Pakistani ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani said on Twitter: "Pakistani and US law enforcement authorities will work together to find Warren Weinstein and apprehend his abductors."

It is possible that the kidnappers may have been affiliated with a banned organisation, and that Weinstein's kidnapping was most likely linked to the wide anti-American sentiment in Pakistan among militant groups.

The Government of Punjab is monitoring an inquiry and investigation into the matter. On August 26, there were reports that the Punjab Police had successfully detained and tracked down the captors in Khushab. This was later denied by the police.

See also

• Raymond Allen Davis incident