US "doing everything possible" to find US hostage

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2005

BAGHDAD (AFP) — The US government raced to find hostage Jeffrey Ake, who was shown pleading for his life in a video aired on Arab satellite television channel Al-Jazeera the previous day.

"We remain actively engaged," in trying to find Ake, a US official in Baghdad said on condition of anonymity.

"We are committed to doing everything possible to try to find him."

Ake, flanked by three masked and armed men, called on Washington to "open a dialogue with the Iraqi resistance" to save his life in the video footage aired Wednesday by the Qatar-based channel.

He also urged US forces promptly to leave Iraq, as he cried holding what looked like a passport and identification card to his chest.

The White House said the safety of the hostage was "a high...