Christian peace activists, shortly after German archaeologist Susanne Osthoff was freed.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier confirmed Sunday’s release of Osthoff, 43, who was kidnapped along with her driver November 25 in northern Iraq. Her driver was to be released within the next few hours he said. “We have been praying, praying, praying for her release,” said her brother Robert, on German television.
Terrorist experts claimed it was likely the German government paid money to the abductors, who had threatened to kill her if the Germany did not break off cooperation with Iraq.
Steinmeier refused to go into details but made clear he was concerned about other Western hostages, including Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, US national Tom Fox, 54, and Briton Norman Kember, 74, of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), an international organization working for reducing conflict in crisis areas.
THOUGHTS WITH HOSTAGES
"Our thoughts are today also with those who are still hostages in Iraq," Steinmeier said. "The
[German] government appeals to every kidnapper to release them immediately," he added.
"We are very concerned about our four colleagues and are working for their return," said Sheila Provencher, 33, a full-time member of the CPT Iraq Team in a statement to BosNewsLife.
However "we have received wonderful support from all over the world for our missing colleagues," added CPT Iraq team member Maxine Nash. "But we want to remind people that kidnapping has affected far more Iraqis than it has foreigners. We have neighbors and friends who have been kidnapped."
SUICIDE ATTACKS CONTINUE
Nash argued that "this lack of security is directly related to the ongoing military occupation of Iraq," charges denied by US officials. Suicide bombers and gunmen reportedly killed nearly two dozen people across Iraq Sunday, December 18, shattering the relative quiet since the parliamentary elections.
CPT urged its supporters to "contact" President George W. Bush, who was due to give a keynote address on the situation in Iraq. He was expected to say Sunday, December 18, that US troops will stay in Iraq as long as needed, and not to give an exact time table for a full withdrawal of troops.
It came as US Vice President Dick Cheney visited Iraq briefly Sunday, December 18, to express support for the American military and the election process. He told reporters that the December 15 elections were marked a high turnout and said that "participation levels all across the country were remarkable."
BUILDING POLITICAL STRUCTURE
Cheney said these developments were to "build a political structure in a self-governing Iraq that can unify the various segments of the population and ultimately take over responsibility for their own security."
Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who was surprised to meet Cheney, reportedly, said that a record 70 percent of Iraq’s 15 million registered voters had gone to the polls. He also described 2005 as "the most important in Iraq’s history," The Associated Press (AP) news agency reported. (With BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos, BosNewsLife Research and reports from Iraq and Germany).
