CAIRO, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Two German hostages, kidnapped by an Iraqi militant group in January, pleaded for help in a fresh video aired by the al-Jazeera satellite channel on Sunday.

    The two hostages, with beard, stood in front of a black banner with the Arabic name of the militant group "Ansar al-Tawhid Wa-Sunna", according to the video.

    The TV channel said the hostages had pleaded for help and that they could no longer bear the captivity.

    Meanwhile, the German government confirmed receiving a video connected with the two hostages, but did not reveal further details.

    Rene Braeunlich and Thomas Nitzschke, two German engineers, were kidnapped outside their workplace in the Iraqi town of Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, on Jan. 24.

    In February, the abductors, identifying themselves as members of "Ansar al-Tawhid Wa-Sunna", threatened in a video tape to kill the two hostages unless the German government ends cooperation with the U.S.-backed Iraqi authorities, closes its embassy and withdraws all German companies from Iraq. Enditem