WASHINGTON: Family members of an American development expert kidnapped in Pakistan by Al Qaeda more than two years ago say they`re holding out hope he`ll return safely home.

Warren Weinstein`s wife, Elaine, told ABC News that it hurt to hear her 72-year-old husband say in a video released on Thursday that `it seems that I have been totally abandoned and forgotten` by the US government.

`I wanted to die right there on the spotbecause he has no idea how hard we`ve tried to get him back,` she said in an interview that aired on Monday on Good Morning America.

`But there`s nothing to do to get him back, because they don`t really tell you what they want.`-AP