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US President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks during a previously unannounced appearance in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House on April 23, 2015 in Washington, DC. Photo: AFP
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FBI aided ransom paid to al-Qaeda in contravention of US policy, report says

Islamic militancy
AFP
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The FBI facilitated a 2012 ransom payment of US$250,000 to al-Qaeda from the family of a kidnapped US aid worker later killed in a drone strike, has revealed.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's role, previously undisclosed, runs counter to Washington's longstanding public opposition to paying ransoms to secure the release of hostages.

An FBI spokeswoman said she was unable to comment due to "an ongoing investigation".

American hostage Warren Weinstein is shown in this image captured from an undated video courtesy of SITE Intelligence Group. Photo: Reuters
But ABC News reported at the weekend that a National Counterterrorism Centre advisory group, acting on White House orders, is expected to recommend that US officials stop prosecuting families of American hostages who communicate with kidnappers abroad or pay ransoms.

Warren Weinstein was snatched by al-Qaeda in Pakistan in 2011 and killed with fellow hostage and Italian aid worker Giovanni Lo Porta in a CIA drone strike in January targeting a suspected hideout of the terror group in Pakistan's tribal areas.

The said on Wednesday the FBI vetted a Pakistani middleman used by the Weinstein family to transport the US$250,000 ransom payment and provided additional intelligence for an exchange.

The Pakistani intermediary said the ransom was transferred to kidnappers in 2012 in US$100 bills in Peshawar, but Weinstein was never released.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: FBI 'aided US$250,000 ransom to al-Qaeda'
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