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Hostage

FILE - This Jan. 6, 2009 file image provided by Mike Redwood shows AmericanWarren Weinstein in England. In a video released by al-Qaida, Weinstein, who is now being held hostage, said he will be killed unless President Barack Obama agrees to the militant group's demands. "My life is in your hands, Mr. President," Weinstein said in the video released Sunday May 6, 2012. "If you accept the demands, I live; if you don't accept the demands, then I die." The White House had no comment Monday on al-Qaida's demands or Weinstein's plea. Weinstein was abducted in August 2011 in Lahore, Pakistan, after gunmen tricked his guards and broke into his home. The 70-year-old is the country director in Pakistan for J.E. Austin Associates, a U.S.-based firm that advises a range of Pakistani business and government sectors. (AP Photo/Mike Redwood, File)

Al-Qaida releases video of American hostage

Last updated Monday, May 7, 2012 - 9:07am

WASHINGTON -- In a video released Sunday by al-Qaida, American hostage Warren Weinstein said he will be killed unless President Barack Obama agrees to the militant group's demands.

al-Quaida, Hostage, Terrorism, International Read more Comments

FILE - In this Tuesday, April 17, 2012 file photo, Abu Qatada is driven away after being refused bail at a hearing at London's Special Immigration Appeals Commission, which handles deportation and security cases, in London. Al-Qaida's North African affiliate offered to free a British hostage if London allowed radical cleric Abu Qatada to leave Britain for another country. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb in a statement posted Monday, April 30, 2012 on a militant website said it would release Stephen Malcolm if Abu Qatada were let go. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)

Al-Qaida offers to trade UK hostage for cleric

Maamoun Youssef The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, April 30, 2012 - 10:11am

CAIRO -- Al-Qaida's North African affiliate Monday offered to free a British hostage if London allows a radical cleric described as a leading figure in the terror group in Europe to leave Britain for another country.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb in a statement posted Monday on a militant website said it would release Stephen Malcolm if the cleric Abu Qatada were let go. It warned that the British government would be responsible for the consequences if it follows through on a plan to deport him to Jordan, where he faces trial on terrorism charges.

al-Quaida, Hostage, Kidnapping, International Read more Comments

Warrant issued for woman involved in hostage crisis

Tim Gurrister Standard-Examiner

Last updated Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - 11:19pm

OGDEN -- An arrest warrant has been issued for the woman listed as Jason Valdez's hostage in a SWAT confrontation that left Valdez hospitalized.

In the 16-hour standoff that began June 18, Veronica Jensen appeared on Facebook with her would-be captor, Valdez. He shot himself in the chest after firing at officers who stormed his motel room in the Western Colony Inn to end the ordeal.

Crime, Drugs, Facebook, Hostage, Jason Valdez, SWAT, Utah Read more Comments

(ANTHONY SOUFFLE/Standard-Examiner) A room at the Western Colony Inn sits disheveled Wednesday, four days after a 16-hour standoff between Jason Valdez and Ogden and Weber SWAT on 24th Street in Ogden.

SWAT leaves standoff scene in disarray

Michael McFall Standard-Examiner staff Standard-Examiner

Last updated Thursday, June 23, 2011 - 10:02am

OGDEN -- Lauri Fowers was shocked when she saw her room at the Western Colony Inn.

She and her husband, Jack Fowers, found debris and their food from the refrigerator scattered on the floor. There are holes in at least two walls and black residue on the ceiling. They also found two water bottles with urine in them on the bathroom sink that belonged to the police.

"What happened if one of my grandkids came in there and drank from it?" Jack Fowers said.

Crime, Hostage, News, Standoff, SWAT, Utah, Featured Read more Comments

After an attempt to serve Jason Valdez with a federal drug warrant turned into a hostage situation two snipers with the Ogden Police Department's SWAT Team take up position in the hedges that line the Ogden Marriott's parking lot to get a clear vantage point of the room at the Western Colonial Inn where Jason was holding Veronica Friday, June 17, 2011 on 24th Street in Ogden, Utah.

Ogden's 16 hour hostage standoff with Jason Valdez

Anthony Souffle, Standard-Examiner staff

Last updated Wednesday, June 22, 2011 - 4:41pm

Downtown, Hostage, Hostages, Ogden Police Department, Police, Slideshow, SWAT, Weber County Sheriff's Office, Featured Read more Comments

The social network goes anti-social in hostage drama

Charles F. Trentelman, Standard-Examiner staff Standard-Examiner

Last updated Wednesday, June 22, 2011 - 5:17pm

OJ Simpson pioneered public crime as spectator sport by leading the Los Angeles police on a multihour, nationally broadcast, slow-speed chase in 1994. It was riveting. People skipped dinner to watch.

I was reminded of this over the weekend as I pondered the Facebook page of Jason Valdez, the guy who posted while holding off the Ogden police for 16 hours in a hostage drama.

Crime, Facebook, Hostage, Social Networking, Staff column, Utah, Wasatch Rambler Read more Comments

(ANTHONY SOUFFLE/Standard-Examiner) A crime scene investigator examines the room and the nearby area after the end of a 16-hour standoff at an Ogden motel.

Ogden standoff ends; suspect shoots himself

Michael McFall, Standard-Examiner staff Standard-Examiner staff

Last updated Monday, June 20, 2011 - 12:54pm

OGDEN — Jason Valdez was holed up in his motel room and faced with two choices: fight the SWAT teams outside or listen to the negotiators and his family who urged him to surrender peacefully.

Crime, Hostage, Hostages, Ogden Police Department, Police, Standoff, SWAT, Weber County Sheriff's Office, Featured Read more Comments

The parents of the hostage talk with their daughter during the hostage situation near the intersection of Grant Avenue and 24th Street Friday, June 17, 2011 in Ogden, Utah. (ANTHONY SOUFFLE/Standard-Examiner)

Hostage Situation in Ogden

Anthony Souffle, Standard-Examiner staff

Last updated Friday, June 17, 2011 - 10:37pm

Hostage, Ogden Police Department, Slideshow, Standoff, SWAT Read more Comments

Hostage siege kills 10 at Iraq government building

The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - 7:16am

BAGHDAD — Gunmen wearing military uniforms and suicide bomb belts stormed a local government headquarters in northern Iraq on Tuesday in an attempt to take hostages that killed at least 10 people, officials said.

Hostage, Iraq, Fatality, International Read more Comments

Mark J. Terrill/The Associated Press
Reza Taghavi (right) is greeted by his niece Mersedeh Taghav at Los Angeles International Airport upon his return after being detained in Iran for more than two years, Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010, in Los Angeles.

Calif. man home after release from Iranian prison

Daisy Nguyen, The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, October 22, 2010 - 12:15pm

LOS ANGELES -- A California businessman who spent more than two years in an Iranian prison after being accused of passing money to a rebel group returned home Thursday.

Hostage, Iran, International, National Read more Comments