Letter Sent From Al Qaeda to Hostage's Family: 'Obama Lied'

One day after President Barack Obama revealed the accidental drone death of Al Qaeda hostage Warren Weinstein, details emerge regarding the mysterious letter sent by the terrorist group to the hostage's family.

A letter obtained by the SITE intelligence group back in 2014 that was sent from al Qaeda to Weinstein's family seeks to suggest that the president was lying when he told the family that the U.S. government was working to rescue Weinstein from Al Qaeda captivity.

The letter also argued that it was seeking to swap Weinstein for Al Qaeda prisoners being held by the U.S.

"Your government has not made any serious efforts for the release of the prisoner," the letter states, adding "Your government has not contacted us for his release."

"We are not interested in retaining the prisoner in our protection; we are only seeking to exchange him in return for the fulfilment of our demands that we have conveyed," the letter continued.

According to Newsweek, the SITE jihadist watchdog group also uncovered a message from Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri to Weinstein's family, which suggested that the president "might say to you: I am doing all that I can to release your relative. Do not believe him."

On Thursday, Obama held a White House press conference announcing that Weinstein and a fellow Italian hostage had both been accidentally killed during a counterterrorism drone operation in Pakistan back in January. 

The president said he takes "full responsibility" for the innocent men's deaths, adding that counterterrorism officials had no reason to believe the hostages were being held in the compound that was attacked by the drone.