Jeffrey Ake
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Jeffrey J. Ake (born February 28, 1958) is President and CEO of Equipment Express, an Indiana-based manufacturer of bottled water equipment. Ake has been a contractor assisting in the American led reconstruction efforts in Iraq, where, in 2003, his company built a machine that filled containers with cooking oil to be used by Iraqis.
On April 11, 2005, Ake was kidnapped by unknown assailants. A video was subsequently made which showed Ake clutching his passport to his chest and pleading for the American government to open talks with the Iraqi resistance and save his life. Three gunmen, two hooded and one off camera, pointed assault rifles at him. The video was then delivered to Al Jazeera television where it was aired without the audio.
The White House stated they would continue their policy of not negotiating with terrorists. "Any time there is a hostage — an American hostage — it is a high priority for the United States," the White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said. "Our position is well known when it comes to negotiating. Obviously this is a sensitive matter."
Ake was the latest of 14 American civilians who have been killed or gone missing since 2004 in Iraq. One note of interest is that Jeffrey is one of three Americans who have appeared in hostage videos and then disappear from public view without mention of their fate which is a rarity when it comes to Americans. Americans are usually killed in a hostage video when demands are not met or released. This is not the case for Aban Elias, Dean Sadek and Jeffrey Ake. Their fates remain a mystery.
