New video of Swiss hostages surfaces

A new video of two Swiss hostages being held in the Pakistani border region of Waziristan has emerged.

According to a photographer who has seen the footage, the video dates from several weeks ago. In it the two hostages appeal to authorities in Bern and Islamabad to double their efforts to free them.

The Swiss News Agency reported on Tuesday that the foreign ministry had confirmed having seen still photographs of the hostages taken from the video.

The two Swiss were travelling in the Balochistan province of Pakistan when they were captured by armed men last July. The following week a spokesman for the Taliban said they had been moved to the neighbouring province of South Waziristan on the Afghan border.

Mansur Khan Mahsud from the Islamabad Fatah Research Centre, a non-partisan organisation which operates in the tribal zones where the couple are reportedly being held, told Blick newspaper he had seen the video.

He said the ransom demanded for the pair’s release had increased from $3 million (SFr2.8 million) to $4 million.