Militant video purports to show Chinese tourist kidnapped in Pakistan a year ago by Taliban
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pakistan's former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani speaks during a press conference in Multan, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2015. Gilani said he has spoken to his son Ali Haider for the first time since his abduction in 2013. Gilani said Haider's captors are demanding the release of several al-Qaida militants held in Pakistani prisons, adding that he plans to take up those demands with Pakistani officials. (AP Photo/Asim Tanveer) (The Associated Press)
A militant video purports to show a Chinese tourist kidnapped by the Taliban in Pakistan a year ago asking for his government to help him be released.
The video was released Sunday by a militant known to belong to a Taliban splinter group. While it could not be independently verified by The Associated Press, the man in the video resembled other known photographs of Hong Xudong, kidnapped in May 2014.
In the video, the man identified as Hong asks for the Chinese government to honor his kidnappers' ransom demands, without ever stating them. Chinese officials and state media did not immediately comment on the video Sunday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hong went missing after entering Pakistan from neighboring India in April 2014. He was abducted near Pakistan's lawless tribal regions, a haven for militants.