Officials: German hostage in Afghanistan freed

updated 6:40 p.m. ET Aug. 19, 2007

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan police freed a female German hostage from a Kabul neighborhood and arrested a group of kidnappers early Monday, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.

The 31-year-old aid worker was freed during a raid in the western part of the capital not far from the restaurant where she was seized Saturday while dining with her husband, Zemary Bashari said. The woman’s husband was not abducted.

“A group of kidnappers were arrested,” Bashari said.

In Berlin, a spokeswoman for Germany’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the woman was “in safety at the German Embassy” in Kabul.

On Sunday, Afghan television broadcast what it said was video of the woman, who identified herself as Christina Meier, calling for the release of unspecified prisoners while being prompted by a man.

Coerced into video statement
Police have said Taliban militants were not behind the woman’s brazen daytime abduction.

The woman was shown sitting on the floor inside a room, her head covered with a white scarf. She said “I am OK” and then read a letter in the Afghan language, Dari, calling for the release of unknown prisoners.

She was prompted to make remarks in English and in Dari by a man speaking in broken English.

The private Tolo TV, which broadcast the video, did not say how it obtained the material.

“I am fine. There are not threats against me. I want from my country to do what it can for my release,” she said in Dari, reading from a piece of paper while seated, occasionally looking up toward the camera.

A male voice off-camera prompted her to say, “to help” and he told her to use the word “urgent.”

“Please help for my release, and help me,” she said.

Demands for prisoner release
A man, his head covered with a scarf and wearing sunglasses inside a room, appeared afterward in the video and demanded the Afghan government release a number of unknown prisoners. He said a member of the group would provide the government with the list.

“We are not bad people. We are a special network,” the man said at the end of the video. He did not identify the group or say whether it is linked to the Taliban or other insurgents operating in Afghanistan.

In recent weeks, the Taliban have offered media interviews with their foreign hostages, apparently hoping to appeal to public sentiment and thereby pressure the Afghan government to release Taliban prisoners. In such cases, the hostage’s comments and message are controlled by the captors and the statements are made in that context.

Germany’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the video.

Ali Shah Paktiawal, head of police criminal investigations in Kabul, ruled out involvement of the Taliban in the abduction, but would not say who was responsible.

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