Obama apologises for deaths of Al Qaeda hostages killed in US operation

The White House said that the US operation against an Al Qaeda compound near the Afghan-Pakistan border killed two hostages – an American and an Italian.

WASHINGTON // US president Barack Obama on Thursday apologised for a counterterrorism operation in January that accidentally killed two aid workers held hostage by Al Qaeda.

The White House said that the US operation against an Al Qaeda compound near the Afghan-Pakistan border killed two hostages – American Warren Weinstein and Italian Giovanni Lo Porto.

Two other Americans who were part of the terrorist group were also killed.

“As a husband and as a father, I cannot begin to imagine the anguish that the Weinstein and Lo Porto families are enduring today,” Mr Obama said, adding that he took responsibility for the deaths and has ordered a full review.

“I profoundly regret what happened,” Mr Obama said, explaining he declassified some of the details of the operation so that the families could know what happened.

Weinstein was snatched after gunmen tricked their way into his home in Lahore on August 13, 2011 shortly before he was due to return home after seven years working in Pakistan.

He later appeared in a video in which, under apparent coercion, he asked the US to free Al Qaeda prisoners.

Lo Porto disappeared in January 2012 in Pakistan.

“Analysis of all available information has led the intelligence community to judge with high confidence that the operation accidentally killed both hostages,” the White House said.

“The operation targeted an Al Qaeda-associated compound, where we had no reason to believe either hostage was present, located in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan.”

The White House did not identify which US agency carried out the operation, which suggests it was carried out by an intelligence service rather than a military unit.

“We have concluded that Ahmed Faruq, an American who was an Al Qaeda leader, was killed in the same operation that resulted in the deaths of Dr Weinstein and Mr Lo Porto,” the White House said.

“We have also concluded that Adam Gadahn, an American who became a prominent member of Al Qaeda, was killed in January, likely in a separate US government counterterrorism operation,” it added.

“While both Faruq and Gadahn were Al Qaeda members, neither was specifically targeted, and we did not have information indicating their presence at the sites of these operations.”

* Reuters and Agence France-Presse