Al-Qaeda leadership on Saturday said that the US national Warren Weinstein and Italian national Lo Porto Giovanni , who were killed in January’s US drone strike near the Pak-Afghan border were ‘converted to Islam’ during their captivity.
President Barack Obama regretted their deaths after taking responsibility for the accidental killings during the drone strike.
Usama Mahmood, the Al-Qaeda spokesman for Indian sub-continent branch, in a statement issued her stated that both the hostages had converted to Islam and declared them ‘martyrs’.
“Americans neither killed Warren Weinstein nor Giovanni Lo Porto in a so called anti-terrorism campaign. But they martyred our esteemed and respected uncle Ishaq, the American, and respected brother Muhammad, the Italian by targeting them in a drone strike,” the statement said. “The video of Uncle Ishaq regarding his acceptance of Islam will be released,” it also said.