HA ha...
Posted on 01/21/2006 7:37:27 AM PST by jmc1969
BERLIN (Reuters) - Part of the ransom money alleged to have been paid by the German government to win the freedom of Iraq hostage Susanne Osthoff last month was found on Osthoff after her release, the German magazine Focus said on Saturday.
Without citing its sources, Focus said officials at the German embassy in Baghdad had found several thousand U.S. dollars in the 43-year-old German archaeologist's clothes when she took a shower at the embassy shortly after being freed.
The serial numbers on the bills matched those used by the government to pay off Osthoff's kidnappers, the magazine said.
Efforts to contact Osthoff for comment through her mother and a friend failed.
A spokeswoman at the German Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the report. The German government is known to have paid ransoms for hostages in the past, but has refused to comment on whether it did so for Osthoff.
(Excerpt) Read more at in.today.reuters.com ...
We still have not heard from the four "hostages" (2 Brits, a Canadian, and an American) who were supposed to be killed weeks ago unless demands were met. The Japanese hostages who were released over a year ago were also suspect in terms of their sympathies and status. I agree with you that a number of these highly-publicized "kidnappings" are political ploys or crass greed. Most of the others have more to do with criminal activities rather than political objectives. It reminds me of what is going on in Central and South America.
Patty Hearst.
Looks like she is in league with the Muslim terrorists.
Yes.
Not necessarily. Sometimes they start out being in league with the devil, and it ends badly for them and the devil takes his due. I honestly think Nick Berg was one of these.
"If they cut her head off, then I am wrong."
That would be kind of a big "ooops" there, but at least we would know she wasn't lying.
"said that she "cannot blame them for kidnapping her, as they cannot enter [Baghdad's heavily fortified] Green Zone to kidnap Americans."
Well. That makes it all better. Doesn't it?? /sarc
Make a mental note, next time shower before you are released.
GeesH! Maybe they gave her cab fare? /sarcasm
At the very least...she ought to be taxed for "income" outside of Germany.
The interesting thing...is that the German media made her front page news and really carried this to the public. Tomorrow...the German papers will carry the whole story...and the TV mafia can't stop them. I don't see any more attempts to pay off terrorists...the Germans will just smile and say thanks but no thanks.
Kinda like if Patty Hearst, after the kidnap was in progress, her (buddies) panicked and killed her to prevent being caught.
"You are missing the reporters obvious inability to make the conclusion or ask.... How did the german government know the seriial numbers on US dollar bills if they had not paid the ransom>?"
That was my point.
Patty Hearst was not killed.
>Citing information from unnamed German intelligence sources, the ddp report puts the sum of the ransom payment at “around $5 million.” According to the ddp’s sources, an envoy from Germany’s Federal Intelligence Agency, the BND, “brought the money, divided up into smaller bills, from Berlin to Iraq, as the hostage-takers demanded. The ‘bound ‘parcel’ was of ‘considerable weight’.”
http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=011906H
She was identified as a German intelligence officer here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1557346/posts
The insinuation is that she was released in exchange for the TWA hijacker/murderer. It sounds like a made-up story to smooth things over for Merkel. It's nauseating.
I think that the majority of these "kidnappings" where the victims are released are actually a scam with two objectives.
1) Help raise money for their friends, the terrorists
2) Make the kidnappers out to be noble when they release the victim.
He was a sailor, and yes.
This has got to be scrappleface!!
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