[birbear]

I wouldn't jump to too many conclusions... This is a Reuters story, reporting from a German magazine, with no identified sources.

I realize that's how journalism is done these days (i.e. no effort made to check the veracity of the claims), but I'm not trusting anybody until somebody stakes their name on it.

[livius]

I suspect this is probably being leaked from Germany to prevent other nutcase "hostages" from trying the same thing. I was in Europe when this happened, and it was obvious to many people that Suzie was in league with the terrorists. Germany first denied paying ransom but it came out soon afterwards that they had indeed bought this terrorist-loving "humanitarian" back for a substantial sum.

Lots of criticism for the then government; don't forget that the German government has changed since then, and that may be one of the reasons this is being released.

Besides, Reuters is very pro-terrorist, so if they published something that could reflect unfavorably on their darlings, you know it's likely true.

[mtbopfuyn]

We'll have to see how this plays out but if it's true...