Knights Party Veterans League

http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/afghanistan/father-of-u-s-soldier-captured-in-afghanistan-asks-for-son-s-freedom-1.142913

Father of U.S. soldier captured in Afghanistan asks for son’s freedom

In a rare public appeal, the father of a U.S. soldier held captive in the Afghan war has sought the help of Pakistan’s military in securing the release of Spc. Bowe Bergdahl.
Idaho resident Bob Bergdahl, in a video post on YouTube, directly addresses Pakistan Army Chief of Staff Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Lieutenant-General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, the head of the country’s intelligence service, The Associated Press reports.

“Our family is counting on your professional integrity and your honor to secure the safe return of our son,” he said. “And we thank you. Our family knows the high price that has been paid by your men in the army and the frontier corps. We give our condolences and thanks to the families of those who have fallen for Pakistan.”

Bowe Bergdahl’s parents have declined to say much publicly since he went missing from his base in southern Afghanistan on June 30, 2009. He is the only American soldier being held in the war.

While it’s unclear where the 25-year-old soldier is being held, a video released on the Internet earlier this week shows him standing next to a senior official in the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network in Paktika province in Afghanistan.

Wearing a long beard he began growing just after his son’s capture, Bob Bergdahl speaks in English, Pashto and Arabic in the video, and he talks directly to members of the Haqqanis and their military commander, Mullah Sangeen.

“Strangely to some, we must also thank those who have cared for our son, for almost two years, Mullah Sangeen, the Haqqanis, and others who have played a role in sheltering the American prisoner,” AP quoted him saying. “We know our son is a prisoner and at the same time a guest in your home.”

Idaho National Guard spokesman Col. Tim Marsano, a liaison for the U.S. Army in Idaho, confirmed that Bob Bergdahl is the man in the video.

Read more on about the father’s plea for his son’s release on The Associated Press.

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