Posted on 11/29/2005 7:51:04 AM PST by indcons
BAGHDAD, Iraq Nov 29, 2005 — Photos broadcast Tuesday showed a blindfolded German woman being led away by armed captors in the latest kidnapping of a Westerner in Iraq. Six Iranian pilgrims, meanwhile, were abducted by gunmen north of Baghdad.
Separately, the aid group Christian Peacemaker Teams confirmed that four people from the group had been taken hostage Saturday and that Norman Kember, a 74-year-old Briton, was among them. The U.S. Embassy has confirmed an American is missing in Iraq presumably one of the aid workers.
Also Tuesday, two U.S. soldiers assigned to Task Force Baghdad were killed when their patrol was hit by a roadside bomb north of the capital, the U.S. command said.
Iraq was rocked by a wave of foreigner kidnappings and beheadings in 2004 and early 2005, but they have dropped off in recent months as many Western groups have left and security precautions for those who remain have tightened. Insurgents, including al-Qaida in Iraq, seized more than 225 people, killing at least 38 including three Americans.
The pictures of Susanne Osthoff were taken from a video in which her captors demanded that Germany stop any dealings with Iraq's government, according to Germany's ARD television. Germany has ruled out sending troops to Iraq and opposed the U.S.-led war.
Osthoff and her driver have been missing since Friday and "according to current information, we have to assume it is a kidnapping," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin.
Osthoff's mother, Ingrid Hala, told Germany N24 news station that her daughter is an archaeologist working for a German aid organization that has distributed medicine and medical supplies since before the 2003 U.S. invasion. ARD said she speaks fluent Arabic.
"One can only hope and keep their fingers crossed and remain optimistic," Hala said.
Hala said she had not heard from her daughter for about five years, and her uncle, Peter Osthoff, said his niece had broken almost all ties with her family, including a daughter who will be 12 in December.
Coming soon to a European nation near you...
Must be quite a back story here.
I hope they don't kill her on camera, but if they do I hope the guy with the RPG is dumb enough to bend over and fire it at her in the room they are in.
Am I being unreasonable to think this woman might be in cahoots with her "captors"?
Looks like that RPG is pointed at the other guy's head.
FIRE!
Yes.
No
LOL! He better hope nobody wrote that word into his script, eh?!
It looks like the second guy is reading instructions for the RPG guy.
Even though we could make up a thousand funny captions for this photo, I believe that kidnappings are the most serious of matters. I hope that the kidnappers die, not the victims.
When I see these terrorist I can't help but think, "...Three year olds with deadly weapons....." Is there any civility at all out there in the Middle East?
This entire situation really blows but, I'm really glad we're confronting it now. Could you imagine if we let this thing grow another 20-30 years? The Islamic raidcals are formidable enough with small arms and rocks. Could you imagine this group of fanatics with modern weapons and an organized military?
This may be faked...Like the two Italian "peace" activist that were "kidnapped" then let go and then afterwards sung the same old Euro/Socialist/Islamic song about how evil America was and capitalist this and empire that...Again...I ain't poppin no popcorn for this one.
Opps, I meant "no". Haven't had coffee yet.
*sigh* No.
LOL! Coffee good.
Not at all.
Hhmmm...The Patty Hearst Syndrome, eh?
There's something strange about putting one's own self in close proximity to known kidnappers and murderers.
Whether it was planned that way or not, I'm glad it was them and not my son.
LOL! Now think back to The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch".
("..something about the trigger here...oh, wait, but first...")BLAM
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