article_snippet.sent: A senior U.S. official familiar with the handling of the issue told CNN that U.S. made no serious effort to negotiate for the 73-year-old development expert's release, either directly to al Qaeda or through proxies in Pakistan.
article_snippet.sent: Another senior U.S. official told CNN that U.S. hostage Warren Weinstein's capture by al Qaeda made it hard for the United States to negotiate, even though proxies such as U.S. have links to intermediaries who might have helped.
article_snippet.sent: the Obama administration is in the midst of a review of the Obama administration hostage policy, which has been criticized by some families whose loved ones have been taken hostage by ISIS, al Qaeda or the Taliban.
article_snippet.sent: Third, while the U.S. government position is that it will not make concessions to terrorist groups, there is nothing in American policy to prevent another government from negotiating with terrorists to secure the release of U.S. citizens, and this should be encouraged, even if there is some quid pro quo involved.
article_snippet.sent: this is what happened in the case of the American journalist Peter Theo Curtis, who was captured by al Qaeda affiliate in Syria in 2012, but was released last year after the U.S. government intervened in the Weinstein case.
article_snippet.sent: the U.S. government have had longstanding ties to the militant groups in Syria, including the al Qaeda affiliate holding Curtis, and while Qatari officials have denied paying ransom to free Curtis, it's unlikely that the journalist was freed just because Members of the IMU cell al Qaeda holding the journalist were suddenly feeling like good guys.
article_snippet.sent: A senior American official told CNN they are being held by the Haqqani Network.
article_snippet.sent: the U.S. government has contacts with the Haqqani Network, and the U.S. government should ratchet up the pressure on the U.S. government to secure the couple's release.