BERLIN, Jan. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed shock Friday at the video that shows two German engineers were kidnapped in Iraq, strongly condemning the abduction.

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

      He said that they are "shocking pictures which we saw this morning coming from Iraq", repeating the German government's call for the immediate release of the engineers, who were abducted Tuesday by unidentified armed men in the northern Iraqi oil-rich town of Baiji, some 240 kilometers north of Baghdad.

    "We condemn in the strongest terms" the abduction, said Steinmeier, adding the German government will do everything it could to save alive the two Germans, who belong to a Leipzig company and were sent to Iraq last week to help install machinery at a plant making detergents.

    A video of two German hostages was aired by the pan-Arab al-Jazeera television on Friday, showing that the engineers were seated on the ground with armed men behind them and appealed to the German government to work for their release.

    German officials are trying in vain to contact the captors with the help of intelligence agents in Iraq but are not clear about their identities and what they demand for the release of the hostages.

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel will issue a statement on the matter at 13:00 local time (12:00 GMT).

    This is the second abduction of German nationals in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion of the country. Aid worker and archaeologist Susanne Osthoff was abducted in Baghdad in November and released three weeks later through hard efforts by the German government. Enditem