German abducted in Iraq is free, says Berlin

By Philip Blenkinsop

BERLIN (Reuters) – A German archaeologist kidnapped by
gunmen in Iraq three weeks ago is free and her driver should
shortly be released, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier told a news conference on Sunday.

Susanne Osthoff, 43, who had spent more than a decade
working on excavations in Iraq, disappeared heading north from
Baghdad with the driver on November 25.

“I’m pleased to announce today, also on behalf of the
German chancellor, that Mrs Susanne Osthoff is no longer in the
hands of the kidnappers. She is in the safe care of the German
embassy in Baghdad,” Steinmeier said, adding she was in good
health.

Steinmeier said the kidnappers had also announced that they
would release the driver.

He declined to comment on how or under what conditions
Osthoff, the first German to be kidnapped in Iraq, had been
freed.

Susanne Osthoff’s brother Robert told Reuters he had heard
the news shortly before 7 p.m. (1800 GMT) from Germany’s
federal police.

“They told me she was well and safe in German hands,” he
said by telephone. “We are happy. I’ve just opened a beer.”

He did not know the circumstances of her release or when
she was likely to return to Germany.

Osthoff, who speaks fluent Arabic, is a convert to Islam
and has an 11-year-old daughter. She had begun working as a
volunteer in Iraqi hospitals since the U.S. invasion in 2003.

The kidnappers had delivered a videotape to German public
broadcaster ARD in Baghdad shortly after the abduction,
threatening to kill the two hostages unless Germany ended all
support for the current Iraqi government.

Germany does not have troops in Iraq and has ruled out
sending them there, but the government does help train Iraqi
forces outside the country.

Former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was a vocal critic of
the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, a stance that damaged ties with
Washington.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, who only took office a month ago,
had said the German government would not be “blackmailed” by
kidnappers, but did not give a clear answer when asked if
Germany would be prepared to pay a ransom.

Security experts say Germany has paid ransoms for hostages
in the past and would probably do so for Osthoff.

More than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis have been
kidnapped since the U.S.-led forces invaded the country in 2003
to topple the government of Saddam Hussein. Fifty-two foreign
hostages are known to have been killed by their captors.

Several other Westerners, including four members of a
Christian aid group, are still being held.

(Additional reporting by Volker Warkentin, Erik Kirschbaum)