Former FBI agent held prisoner in Iran

I just noticed this news, showing that hostage situations in Iran aren't over:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The family of retired FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished years ago in Iran, issued a plea to his kidnappers Friday and, for the first time, released a hostage video they received from his unidentified captors.

The video message released on the family's website publicly transformed the mysterious disappearance into an international hostage standoff. Despite a lengthy investigation, however, the United States government has no evidence of who is holding the 63-year-old father of seven.

"Please tell us your demands so we can work together to bring my father home safely," says Levinson's son David, seated beside his mother, Christine.

The video plea represents a sharp change in strategy in a case that, for years, the U.S. treated as a diplomatic issue rather than a hostage situation. Christine Levinson, who lives in Coral Springs, Florida, has issued many public statements over the years, but she typically directed them to her missing husband or to the government of Iran.

In the hostage video, which the family received in November 2010, Levinson pleaded with the U.S. government to meet the demands of the people holding him, whom he did not identify.

Don't be surprised if his captors are linked to the Iranian dictatorship themselves. This is truly abominable, and worst, it shows that even with the release of the American hikers who foolishly went there, the crisis isn't over.

Update: here's the site for helping Mr. Levinson (via The Jawa Report, which also has a video about the case).