Two German hostages in Iraq appeared in a videotape aired by the Qatar-based al-Jazeera television on Tuesday.

BAGHDAD, Jan. 31 (Xinhuanet) -- Two German hostages in Iraq appeared in a videotape aired by the Qatar-based al-Jazeera television on Tuesday.

    According to the report, the brief tape showed the two hostages, both engineers, seated on the floor in front of a group of armed men.

    The kidnappers gave the German government a 72-hour deadline to meet their demands, saying they would kill the hostages if their demands were not met.

    The kidnappers have demanded Germany close its embassy in Baghdad and stop cooperation with the Iraqi government.

    Earlier on Friday, the pan-Arab al-Jazeera television also aired a video of the two German hostages seized in northern Iraq last Tuesday.

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

    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