Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Iraqi insurgent group threaten to kill German hostage
Security
(AP) -- An insurgent group in Iraq posted a videotape Monday that showed a German hostage who has been held for more than six months and threatened to kill him unless Germany withdrew its troops from Afghanistan within 10 days. Sinan Krause and his mother Hannelore disappeared in Iraq on Feb. 6. German officials have not said what they were doing in Iraq. The mother was freed in July.
The video showed Sinan Krause seated drinking tea in front of a blue backdrop and talking with his mother, who was weeping. As the image shifted to Hannelore sitting alone dressed in her headscarf, a voice was heard saying she was released because she converted to Islam. The narrator then demanded that Germany withdraw its forces from Afghanistan within 10 days or "we will slaughter him (Sinan) like a sheep to please ourselves and in support of our brothers and a humiliation to our enemies."
A previously unknown insurgent group, the "Arrows of Righteousness," claimed March 10 to have abducted Sinan and his mother and released two earlier videos of the two. The authenticity of Monday's almost three minute-long video could not be verified, but it appeared on a Web site commonly used by Islamic militants and carried the logo of the group.
In both previous videos - released in March and April - the group also threatened to kill the hostages if Germany did not start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan within 10 days. In one video, the mother said she worked for the Austrian Embassy, and a militant's voiceover said her son worked for Iraq's Foreign Ministry.
Germany, which opposed the war in Iraq and has no troops there, has some 3,000 soldiers serving in NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan - largely in the relatively calm north - and has said it will not comply with the kidnappers' demands.
The video showed Sinan Krause seated drinking tea in front of a blue backdrop and talking with his mother, who was weeping. As the image shifted to Hannelore sitting alone dressed in her headscarf, a voice was heard saying she was released because she converted to Islam. The narrator then demanded that Germany withdraw its forces from Afghanistan within 10 days or "we will slaughter him (Sinan) like a sheep to please ourselves and in support of our brothers and a humiliation to our enemies."
A previously unknown insurgent group, the "Arrows of Righteousness," claimed March 10 to have abducted Sinan and his mother and released two earlier videos of the two. The authenticity of Monday's almost three minute-long video could not be verified, but it appeared on a Web site commonly used by Islamic militants and carried the logo of the group.
In both previous videos - released in March and April - the group also threatened to kill the hostages if Germany did not start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan within 10 days. In one video, the mother said she worked for the Austrian Embassy, and a militant's voiceover said her son worked for Iraq's Foreign Ministry.
Germany, which opposed the war in Iraq and has no troops there, has some 3,000 soldiers serving in NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan - largely in the relatively calm north - and has said it will not comply with the kidnappers' demands.
Labels: Afghanistan, Arrows of Righteousness, Germany, Hannelore Krause, hostage, Iraq, Sinan Krause
