American held by al-Qaeda makes video appeal to Barack Obama I have been cut off from my family, my wife who is over 70, my two daughters, my two grandchildren, my son-in-law, and perhaps new members of the family I've never met. Needless to say I have been suffering deep anxiety every part of every day. He added that he had served his country for more than 30 years, as a college professor, Peace Corps volunteer and development worker. "Now when I need my government it seems I have been totally abandoned and forgotten," he said, looking lethargic and ashen faced. He urged Mr Obama to open negotiations and appealed to the president as a family man to help secure his freedom. The video was accompanied by a handwritten letter - dated October 3, 2013 - setting out the same message. Click here to see the letter. "I hope that the media can mount a campaign to get the American government to actively pursue my release and to make sure that I am not forgotten and just become another statistic," he wrote. Given my age and my health I don't have time on my side. Mr Weinstein was kidnapped at gunpoint from his house in August 2011 just two days before he was due to leave Pakistan and return to the US. At first security forces suggested he had most likely been taken by a criminal gang who hoped to earn a ransom. In December, however, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the head of al-Qaeda, released a recording claiming his group was holding the American. "Just as the Americans detain all whom they suspect of links to al Qaeda and the Taliban, even remotely, we detained this man who has been neck-deep in American aid to Pakistan since the 1970s," he said, adding that the captive would be released if the US ended drone strikes and released the 1993 World Trade Centre bombers. Warren Weinstein pictured in a video released by by Al-Qaeda's media arm, A-Sahab, in 2012 American officials say they are working to verify the authenticity of the new letter and video but have repeatedly said they will not negotiate for Mr Weinstein's release. He is believed to be held in North Waziristan, close to the border with Afghanistan. Other hostages held by al-Qaeda linked groups, such as the Pakistan Taliban, have been released in the past, often when a ransom has been paid.