BERLIN, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi kidnappers of two German hostages had demanded a ransom of 12 million U.S. dollars for their release, the German magazine Focus reported on Friday.

    The report said that a crisis team with the German Foreign Office had got information about the two German engineers through the contacts with intermediaries in Iraq and by recent video footages of the hostages.

    The two hostages, Rene Braeunlich, 32, and Thomas Nitzschke, 28, were abducted on January 24 in Baiji, 180 km north of Baghdad, on their way to help install machinery in an Iraqi factory.

    The magazine said they might have since been handed over to a criminal gang.

    In February, a group named Ansar al-Tawhid Wa-Sunna issued an ultimatum saying they would kill the two hostages if Germany did not cut cooperation with Iraq and close its embassy.

    Appearing in a video footage on Sunday on an Islamic Website, the hostages pleaded for help for their release. Enditem