US Should Create ‘Hostage Czar’ to Recover American Hostages - Congressman

The United States should create a Hostage Czar who would lead efforts to locate and recover Americans taken hostage abroad such as the tragically diseased al-Qaeda hostage Warren Weinstein, US Congressman Robert Delaney stated on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The new high-level government position would improve coordination, cut through Us government bureaucracy and allow for better communication with hostage families, according to the release.

The term “Czar” is often used in the United States to refer to high-level officials who oversee and coordinate a particular policy rather using their actual title.

“The tragic loss of Dr. Warren Weinstein should be a call to action, because our hostage rescue operations have to improve,” Delaney said. “I firmly believe that improvement starts with a new Hostage Czar who can direct and coordinate our efforts across agency lines.”

On April 23, 2015, the White House announced that a US government counterterrorism operation against al-Qaeda in January 2015 accidentally killed US citizen Warren Weinstein, who had been held hostage by al-Qaeda since 2011.

“We need a new member of the National Security Council who wakes up every morning focused solely on bringing American hostages home,” Delaney explained.

Delaney, joined by US Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski, is calling on Congress to make the return of all American hostages a priority, the release concluded.