TERRORISM: First german citizen kidnapped in Iraq

Female german archeologist Susanne Osthoff, 43, and her Iraqi driver were apparently kidnapped in Iraq by an unknown group on Friday, as was stated by the german public TV channel ARD referring to a video submitted to them. Only a still photo of the video was released, showing the woman and her driver blindfolded among a group of three hooded and armed men, one of them holding a paper. The alleged kidnappers demanded that Germany stopped all cooperation with the Iraqi government. No details of the demands were released to the public yet.



Released still image

Seperately, the aid group "Christian Peacemaker Teams" reported that 4 of their activists had been taken hostage on Saturday (supporting link 1).

Although not the first hostage to be taken in Iraq, Mrs. Osthoff is insofar special as she avidly had worked for the Iraqi people and culture long before Gulf War 3 and was one of the first to organize aid shipments toward the end of the Saddam Hussein government despite of the ongoing conflict, sometimes under fire (supporting link 2, german language).

Following a cabinet meeting, the new german Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) stated that the german government decidedly demanded the two hostages to be set free. She assured the international audience that the german government were considering every possible steps to assure the well-being of Osthoff and her driver. The new german Minister of foreign affairs, Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD), stated he "would know what has to be done" upon his return from a current trip to the USA (supporting link 3, german language) - which could indicate a desired and possibly forceful cooperation with US authorities in Iraq.

One of the hopes and emphasises of the german Iraq policy was not to get directly involved in local matters. This hope has been shattered now, and Chancellor Merkel will have to face tough decisions right at the beginning of her first term in office. My hopes are that considering the long-time contempt and commitment Susanne Osthoff has shown to the Iraqi people and culture (she is internationally known for her work as archeologist on Iraqi historical sites) there will be local informants to aid authorities in the solving of this problem.

I also hold the opinion that Germany might resort to forceful extraction in case the negotiations lead nowhere, the question being if that would be carried out by US/ISF SF groups or the german federal police GSG9. The german people is likely to support such measures instead of making concessions to the criminals or paying a significant amount of money (which Osthoff would then have to pay back to the german state) - the BND (german secret service) has been quite succesful at negotiating in the past. I cannot see this leading to any policy change by Germany.

(I am sorry for the links in german language, but english news coverage doesnt go in-depth as of now)

Edit: Image converted to link, minor correction

Related News Links:
www.guardian.co.uk
www.spiegel.de
www.neue-oz.de


[edit on 29/11/2005 by Lonestar24]

Just FYI, it just came across Fox News that Al Jazeera has released a videotape of the 4 peace activists that had been grabbed on Saturday.

Back to this topic, there appear to be some conflicting statements here. For example this statement seems to say that Ms. Osthoff was very concerned about the Iraqi people, and worked for their common good:

Although not the first hostage to be taken in Iraq, Mrs. Osthoff is insofar special as she avidly had worked for the Iraqi people and culture long before Gulf War 3 and was one of the first to organize aid shipments toward the end of the Saddam Hussein government despite of the ongoing conflict, sometimes under fire (supporting link 2, german language).

And then there is this statement that comes later in your post, which indicates that Ms. Osthoff had "contempt" for the Iraqis:

My hopes are that considering the long-time contempt and commitment Susanne Osthoff has shown to the Iraqi people and culture (she is internationally known for her work as archeologist on Iraqi historical sites) there will be local informants to aid authorities in the solving of this problem.

This may be due to a simple German-English translation error, but it should be corrected because it is confusing.

There are several very interesting factoids that the author has posted. For example, the bolded print in this section:

I also hold the opinion that Germany might resort to forceful extraction in case the negotiations lead nowhere, the question being if that would be carried out by US/ISF SF groups or the german federal police GSG9. The german people is likely to support such measures instead of making concessions to the criminals or paying a significant amount of money (which Osthoff would then have to pay back to the german state) - the BND (german secret service) has been quite succesful at negotiating in the past. I cannot see this leading to any policy change by Germany.

According to the provided source "Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung" she already had received threats from Zarqawi's group last summer while she was living in Mosul, northern Iraq and U.S. soldiers had taken her to the Green Zone ?

If so, probably, her kidnappers know pretty well who she is and that she is working on behalf of Iraqi civilians. The last thing Zarqawi (or the Ba'ath) want, is a stabilized, strong modern Iraq. I think it is also a warning to the Germans to stop any dealings with Iraq's government.

I also hold the opinion that Germany might resort to forceful extraction in case the negotiations lead nowhere,

This implies that her whereabouts are already known.

What roles exactly does Germany play in Iraq?

Absolutely horrible that an archaeologist is taken. This is a person trying to reconstruct the history of the nation and the peoples of iraq, and these goons are going to hack her to death. These kidnappers really are living in the Dark Ages.

update:

German abducted in Iraq is free, says Berlin

"I'm pleased to announce today, also on behalf of the German chancellor, that Mrs Susanne Osthoff is no longer in the hands of the kidnappers.

She is in the safe care of the German embassy in Baghdad," [German Foreign Minister] Steinmeier said, adding she was in good health.

.

It is rumoured that Germany traded the freedom of Hezbollah terrorist Mohammad Ali Hamadi, who tortured and murdered U.S. Navy Diver Robert Dean Stethem, for Mrs. Osthoff. Within three days of Hamadi's release, Osthoff was released:

This is interesting...apparently she herself was a German spy:



I think this lends credence to the possibility Germany did trade Hamadi for her...