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| Iraq |
| German hostages have 10 days to live |
| 2007-04-04 |
| IRAQI militants holding a German woman and her son hostage said today they were giving Germany a new deadline of 10 days to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan or the two would be killed. The Arrows of Righteousness group posted a video on the Internet showing Hannelore Marianne Krause urging Germany to heed the demands of the militants. The group had issued an earlier ultimatum on March 10 that it would kill the pair if Berlin failed to pull out its troops from Afghanistan. The two were seized from their home in the western Baghdad district of Ghazaliya in early February. "I urge the German people to help me in my difficult situation," said Mrs Krause, according to an Arabic translation of her comments, only part of which could be heard. "Germany was safe before it got involved in this satanic coalition with America against what they call terrorism," said Mrs Krause, shown sitting on the ground next to her son. A militant speaking on the video but out of sight said: "We are giving the German government another 10 days to begin withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan or we shall kill this criminal woman and her son who works in the Foreign Ministry of the government of (Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-) Maliki". The woman is married to an Iraqi physician and moved to Iraq 40 years ago. Her son is reported to be in his mid-20s and has dual German-Iraqi citizenship. The German government has said it is working to try to secure the hostages' release but will not be blackmailed. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 Can't do it. Ain't gonna. Nope. Nope. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-04 23:34 |
| #5 Say it aint so Zen! |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2007-04-04 22:40 |
| #4 How curious. So many of us who decry Islamic terrorism instantly are condemned as being racist. Does anyone else here beside me suspect that the kidnap of this German woman — who has quite obviously adopted Iraqi culture and the nation of Iraq as her home — was based entirely upon her race? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-04 12:36 |
| #3 The woman is married to an Iraqi physician and moved to Iraq 40 years ago. My Grandaddy came to the U.S. in 1919. By 1959 - 40 years later - he was an American, not an Italian, despite his accent. If somebody'd taken him hostage, I have grave doubts the Italian government would have turned a hair. |
| Posted by: Fred 2007-04-04 11:15 |
| #2 Arrows of Righteousness... that's some sort of Mormon reference, right? |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-04-04 09:23 |
| #1 Let's see if I understand this.... An Iraqi group is holding hostages to force the Germans out of Afghanistan, right? But, I thought that Democrats said that there was no relationship between Iraq and Afghanistan. Why would this happen if all the bad guys are in Afghanistan? |
| Posted by: AlanC 2007-04-04 09:07 |