Ex-hostage says Iraqi abductors treated her OK
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-27 09:10

A German woman freed after being held hostage in Iraq for more than three weeks said in an interview broadcast Monday that she was treated well by her kidnappers.

Susanne Osthoff, an aid worker and archaeologist, told the Arabic-language Al-Jazeera satellite channel that her abductors weren't trying to get a ransom. Rather, they were demanding that schools, hospitals and other humanitarian projects built in Sunni Arab areas, she said.

"Thank God, I am still alive," Osthoff, 43, said in Arabic, a black scarf wrapped around her head.

A Feb. 2004 file photo shows German archeologist Susanne Osthoff made available Nov. 30 2005. [AP/file]

Osthoff, the first German to be kidnapped in Iraq, disappeared with her Iraqi driver in northern Iraq on Nov. 25. Her release was announced Dec. 18. The driver is also believed to have been let go.

The German government expressed concern Monday that Osthoff has not ruled out going back to Iraq and appealed to her not to return.

"After the intensive efforts of many who were involved, which in the end led to her release, I would find it hard to understand if Mrs. Osthoff again put herself in a dangerous situation," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement.

Osthoff said in the interview she was always aware of the danger in Iraq and knew she might be killed by a bombing any time she went out. But she said Iraqis are living in misery and need help. The aid money that enters the country does not reach ordinary Iraqis, she argued.

In most of the interview, Osthoff spoke in English, with an Arabic translation voiceover.

According to the translation, she said she tried to resist her kidnappers when they forced her inside a car's trunk. She said she could see a police patrol under a nearby bridge. It wasn't clear if the officers saw her.

Osthoff said the drive to the place where she was held took a long time. Once there, her kidnappers called her by name and told her they knew she was a friend of Iraq, she said.

She described her captivity as comfortable, although there was no power and no stores nearby. She said she drank tea and smoked a lot.

At some point during her captivity, she heard explosions nearby and felt no one could enter the area where she was held.

Osthoff said her captors told her they were trying to contact German authorities. She said she finally was driven to Baghdad and freed, but details of how her release was secured were not clear from the translation.

Relatives in Germany have said Osthoff, a fluent Arabic speaker who was once married to a Jordanian national, has been out of touch with them for years.