BAGHDAD, (Xinhuanet) -- A video of two German hostages seized in northern Iraq Tuesday was aired by the pan-Arab al-Jazeera television on Friday.

A video grab taken from video broadcast by al-Jazeera television shows two German hostages kidnapped in Iraq. (Xinhua/AFP)

   The video showed that the two German engineers were seated on the ground with armed men behind them.

   The Qatar-based channel said that the two Germans appealed to the German government to work for their release.

   The video tape was dated on Jan. 24, the day when they were abducted in the northern Iraqi city of Baiji, some 240 km north of Baghdad.

   According to German Foreign Ministry, the two engineers, Thomas Nitzschke and Rene Braeunlich were working for a German company that has a commercial relationship with an Iraqi detergent company in Baiji.

   They arrived in Iraq on Jan. 22 and planned to return shortly.

   No organization has ever claimed responsibility for their abduction.

   Foreigners are frequent target of kidnapping in the violence-ravaged country since the U.S.-led invasion into the country in March 2003.

   Over 200 foreigners have been kidnapped ever since with some killed and most released after negotiations. Enditem