Beijing, Dec. 19 (Xinhuanet)-- Susanne Osthoff, the German female archaeologist who was kidnapped along with her driver last month in Iraq, is free and in relatively "good health", German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Monday.
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Handout picture released by German television ARD shows a blindfolded German woman (3rdR) sitting with her driver, after they were taken hostage in Iraq, in the region of Ninawa, in the northwest of the country. The woman, 43-year-old Susanne Osthoff, is a trained archaeologist from the southern state of Bavaria who had been doing aid work in Iraq for several years. She is described as active in Iraq for several years, a convert to Islam and fluent in Arabic. (Photo: Xinhua/AFP) |
"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," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.
"She is in the safe care of the German embassy in Baghdad." he said.
Steinmeier said Osthoff's abductors had also announced they would release her driver, however, he gave no details of how she was freed.
The kidnappers had delivered a videotape to German public broadcaster ARD in Baghdad shortly after the abduction, threatening to kill the two hostages unless Germany ended all support for the current Iraqi Government.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said the German Government would not be "blackmailed" by kidnappers but did not give a clear answer when asked if Germany would be prepared to pay a ransom. Enditem
(Agencies) |
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