New deadline for US hostage

A suspected separatist group holding an American U.N. worker in Pakistan says it will kill him in four days if its demands are not met.

The threat on the life of John Solecki was made in a letter sent Sunday to local news agency Online International News Network.

A U.N. spokeswoman says the world body was aware of the threat through the media and “took it seriously.”

Gunmen seized Solecki on Feb. 2 after shooting his driver to death as they drove to work in the southwestern city of Quetta.

The previously unknown Baluchistan Liberation United Front claimed responsibility.

In the letter, the group calls on the government to free more than 1,000 people it claims have been arrested in the region.