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Germany: Naive German Hostage
Sun Sentinel ^ | 27 Dec 05 | Agence France-Presse

Posted on 12/27/2005 10:29:05 PM PST by pepsionice

A former German hostage who spent 24 days in the hands of captors in Iraq said Monday that her kidnappers were not criminals and had demanded humanitarian aid for Sunni Arab regions. Speaking to Doha, Qatar-based satellite channel Al-Jazeera, Susanne Osthoff said her captors told her not to be afraid as her kidnapping was "politically motivated." "Do not be afraid. We do not harm women or children and you are a Muslim," she quoted them as saying. "I was so happy to know that I had not fallen into the hands of criminals," she said. Osthoff, a Muslim convert who speaks fluent Arabic, said her captors demanded German humanitarian aid for Iraq's Sunni Arabs and stated clearly that they did not want a ransom. "They said we don't want money. Maybe we want from Germany, hospitals and schools in the Sunni triangle, an area northwest of Baghdad, and they would like to get money in the form of humanitarian aid," she said. She described her captors as "poor people" and that she "cannot blame them for kidnapping her, as they cannot enter Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone to kidnap Americans." She described her captivity as comfortable, although there was no power and no stores nearby. She said she drank tea and smoked a lot. Osthoff, 43, and her Iraqi driver Shalid al-Shimani were seized Nov. 25 in Iraq's northwester Nineveh province. She was freed Dec. 18. In most of the interview, Osthoff spoke in English, with an Arabic translation voiceover. She said she could see a police patrol under a nearby bridge. Once there, her kidnappers called her by name and told her they knew she was a friend of Iraq, she said. Details of how her release was secured were not clear from the translation.

(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...


TOPICS: Germany; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: appeasement; appeasers; collaborator; german; hostage; hostages; iraq; osthoff; stetham; susanneosthoff; tool; usefulidiot
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So lets add this up. The woman was kidnapped, and held hostage, for 24 days. After release, she tells you that they weren't criminals. Then you review all of the video tape from the kidnappers, which has them holding weapons, including a RPG...and issuing various demands and a threat to kill the hostage if they were met.

Then she tells you that she was "so happy" that she didn't actually fall into the hands of real criminals. She then tells you that they didn't really want a ransom. They just wanted humanitarian aid...like hospitals, schools. Then she wants you to know that they would have preferred to kidnap Americans but for some funny reason, they can't enter the Green Zone fortress. Surely they have enough guts to kidnap a lady...but they would never take great risks of going to the Green Zone. This makes perfect sense to me.

The German government apparently is already worried that she will return to the same region, which she actually has indicated that she will do that. This was a major media event in Germany....almost nightly reporting on the poor Frau Osthoff and her impending death. What worries the german government even more...is that they coughed up or gave up the life sentence dude...placed in a German prison for killing an American sailor during the TWA hostage episode almost two decades ago. The Germans don't have anyone much else left that they could give up if she gets taken hostage again, and they also paid millions (reportedly) to get her back to safety.

And finally, the woman now believes...as naively as anyone can be...that she is truely a "friend of Iraq"...as the kidnappers referred to her after they set her loose.

This is the sad state of German menality (not all Germans are this way...but a huge percentage anyway). As foolish as they are...they would let loose out of prison a man who should have been executed 19 years ago. They sat and promised the US then that they would forever hold him. Obviously, the promise was not that important. The US should move heaven and earth to find murderer...and terminate him as quickly as possible. And if the Germans should make a fuss over the "hit"...let the President tell them that they merely needed to do their job, and if they can't do it....then the US will do it for them.

1 posted on 12/27/2005 10:29:06 PM PST by pepsionice
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To: pepsionice

She was in cahoots with them.


2 posted on 12/27/2005 10:31:19 PM PST by The KG9 Kid (Semper Fi!)
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To: pepsionice

She is a MUSLIM.

After finding that out, I doubt she was a real hostage. I am starting to think that she was a willing participant, and the whole thing was an elaborate hoax, to get that terrorist released from Germany.


3 posted on 12/27/2005 10:34:39 PM PST by FairOpinion (Happy New Year!)
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oh man.....no comment......


4 posted on 12/27/2005 10:35:08 PM PST by meanie monster (http://guptonator.myvideochat.net)
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To: The KG9 Kid

I posted my post, before I read yours. I completely agree with your assessment that she was in cahoots with them.


5 posted on 12/27/2005 10:35:40 PM PST by FairOpinion (Happy New Year!)
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To: The KG9 Kid

Yup. And part of her ransom was the release of a hijacker who murderered an American.


6 posted on 12/27/2005 10:36:09 PM PST by Rockingham
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To: pepsionice

Is this the same idiot?

7 posted on 12/27/2005 10:40:53 PM PST by CarrotAndStick (The articles posted by me needn't necessarily reflect my opinion.)
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To: pepsionice

You know, it makes me long for the good old days of people like Caesar. Say what you will about that system, if someone would have kidnapped a single citizen, he would have sent in his armies to wipe out the entire nation. Pity we don't believe in all for one anymore. Keeps idiots like these on their toes. Need a few heads on poles (heads with towels on)


8 posted on 12/27/2005 10:42:08 PM PST by emiller
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To: CarrotAndStick

If she's a moose-limb, where's her (bleep)in' headscarf?


9 posted on 12/27/2005 11:06:21 PM PST by nightdriver
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To: CarrotAndStick

Yep, thats the idot...minus her berka...which she wears daily in Iraq. The amusing thing about this whole story is how her kidnapping relates to this TWA murderer being released. No one in the US governemnt ever thought the guy would be let out and the Germans would carry out their duty. Bush and his croonies have made some public comments about this episode but you can tell that they don't want to rock Germany's new leader. The US navy has made some bold comments about the episode and it would appear that Rumsfeld is not going to hold them back about commenting on the case. Rummy isn't a big fan of Germany, and I doubt there is anything lost on this issue.


10 posted on 12/27/2005 11:09:24 PM PST by pepsionice
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To: pepsionice

Germany, Holland, Canada, France and sometimes Britain have all been favourite places for terrorists and their appeasers' refuges. The Ayatollah was in France before he went to Iran and converted what was once a somewhat secular state into an Islamic theocracy.


11 posted on 12/27/2005 11:13:23 PM PST by CarrotAndStick (The articles posted by me needn't necessarily reflect my opinion.)
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To: pepsionice

Spot on. I was deployed for a 4 year tour in Germany, and they are well on their way to the depths of economic collapse. For Germany's release of Stentham's killer, I say we conduct a complete withdrawal from the nation altogether.

Let their economy continue to nose-dive for this blatant act of irresponsibility, and this "German hostage" further enhances my theory that Muslims are not worth the salt that composes their skin.


12 posted on 12/27/2005 11:38:07 PM PST by Emmet Fitzhume ("Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure." President Reagan)
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To: pepsionice

"Osthoff, a Muslim convert who speaks fluent Arabic, said her captors demanded German humanitarian aid for Iraq's Sunni Arabs and stated clearly that they did not want a ransom."

And if she was not a muslim convert?

They might just rape her, as muslims do regularly in Denmark and Norway, claiming it is not against islam to do such deeds to "unbelievers."

But if muslims rape a muslim female, they expect her brothers or father to stone her to death, or something to that effect.

It is really quite a "religion" that has an evil "morality" that is not compatible with civilized societies.


13 posted on 12/27/2005 11:45:15 PM PST by truth_seeker
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To: pepsionice

i kidnapped her once and she said the same thing; she's crazy.


14 posted on 12/27/2005 11:53:42 PM PST by GodfearingTexan
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To: truth_seeker

> It is really quite a "religion" that has an evil "morality" that is not compatible with civilized societies.

I used to think Islam was a religion. I am becoming more and more convinced that it is a cynical, bizarre Death Cult.

Certainly no god worth worshipping would ever sanction what goes on in the name of Allah.


15 posted on 12/27/2005 11:56:20 PM PST by DieHard the Hunter (I am the Chieftain of my Clan. I bow to nobody. Get out of my way.)
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To: pepsionice
A willing member of Satan's Whore Battalion.
16 posted on 12/28/2005 12:49:48 AM PST by ApplegateRanch (Islam: a Satanically Transmitted Disease, spread by unprotected intimate contact with the Koranus.)
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To: pepsionice

Here's another article on this woman:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-1960898,00.html


The Times December 28, 2005

Ex-hostage's Iraq return angers her rescue team
From Roger Boyes in Berlin



THE German Government angrily rebuked a former hostage yesterday who is determined to return to Iraq despite being held captive for three weeks by a Sunni gang.
Susanne Osthoff, a 43-year-old archaeologist, announced this week on al-Jazeera television that she would go back to her work in northern Iraq, trying to set up a German cultural centre in Arbil.



Angela Merkel’s new Government, which regards the freeing of Frau Osthoff this month as its first foreign policy triumph, is furious. It made huge efforts to secure her release and is widely believed to have paid a ransom.

It has now blocked all funding for her project and has told her that she should leave the region immediately. She is believed currently to be in Jordan, with her 12-year-old daughter, preparing to return.

“I would have little sympathy if Frau Osthoff puts herself again in danger considering the intensive efforts made by many people to secure her release,” said Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German Foreign Minister, who headed a team that negotiated her release.

Other foreign policy experts were less diplomatic. “A self-willed woman!” exploded Hans-Ulrich Klose, the deputy leader of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee. “Incomprehensible,” agreed Ruprecht Polenz, the committee chairman. “In the event of a second kidnapping one would have to discuss who should foot the bill.”

German newspapers have been full of letters complaining about how much she has cost the taxpayer. Peter Scholl-Latour, the country’s leading Middle East expert, complained: “She is absolutely irresponsible — she is just kicking the Government on the shins.”

Frau Osthoff, however, seems likely to go ahead with her plans. Despite the national relief at her release, she refused to return to Germany for Christmas. Although she was released on December 18, she has yet to telephone her mother.

Frau Osthoff converted to Islam, speaks Arabic and was married to a nomadic tribesman from the region near the Iraqi-Syrian border; she plainly considers Iraq to be her home.

The circumstances of her abduction are only now beginning to leak out. She was due to travel north from Baghdad for a meeting about her projects. Her driver, however, took her only to a house in the capital. She was pulled into an apartment by three men.

The driver appears to have been working with the kidnappers and has since disappeared. British Special Forces in Iraq offered their assistance to Germany — which has no troops on the ground — but the Germans declined.

Eventually the kidnappers made contact. One of the middle men, according to German media reports, may have actually been one of the hostage takers. He has dropped out of sight.

Frau Osthoff was unharmed and, according to security sources quoted in Der Spiegel, the sharp-tongued archaeologist made full use of her Arabic fluency to reprimand the kidnappers. It appears they were relieved to see her go.



Poland will keep its troops in Iraq until the end of 2006, it announced yesterday, reversing the previous Government’s decision. It will cut their number by 600, however.



17 posted on 12/28/2005 1:53:49 AM PST by YaYa123
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To: pepsionice
She was in cahoots with the scum.
Helped them win the release of their Hezbollah buddy.
I hope we can hunt him down in Lebanon.
18 posted on 12/28/2005 3:07:58 AM PST by Bon mots
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To: pepsionice

Sounds like Stockholm Syndrome to me. And I too hope the Germans rot in hell for releasing that murderer. Meanwhile, we need to get our butts out of Germany today!


19 posted on 12/28/2005 4:19:47 AM PST by armydawg1 (" America must win this war..." PVT Martin Treptow, KIA, WW1)
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To: pepsionice

Even after a close study of Democrats and similarly slow mammals, I cannot believe anyone over the age of five is sincerely that naive. She is an enemy agent working to undermine the Allied coalition and to supply the enemy with money and resources.


20 posted on 12/28/2005 4:59:37 AM PST by thoughtomator (Congrats Iraq!)
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