Kidnappers set deadline for German hostages

DUBAI – The kidnappers of two German hostages held in Iraq said they would kill their captives within 72 hours unless Germany ended cooperation with Iraq and closed its Baghdad embassy, Al Jazeera television said on Tuesday.

A new tape of the hostages showed them next to masked individuals who pointed automatic rifles at them. It was dated January 29.The hostage takers were from the Ansar al-Tawhid Wa-Sunna militant group, Jazeera said, adding that the group also demanded that all German companies leave Iraq.The two engineers, identified in German media reports as Rene Braeunlich and Thomas Nitzschke, were abducted last Tuesday outside their workplace in the Iraqi industrial town of Baiji, 180 km north of Baghdad.They appeared in a video on Friday urging their government to help secure their release and at the time German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed to do all she could to free them.”The pictures are testimony to a crime that shows a contempt for humanity.Experts from the foreign ministry crisis group are examining the pictures carefully,” said a German foreign ministry spokesman on Tuesday.Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was being kept informed of developments and a crisis group would report to cabinet on Wednesday morning, a statement by the foreign ministry said after news of the tape was broadcast on German TV.- Nampa-Reuters —- 100th British soldier dies in Iraq LONDON – Anti-war protesters were planning to hold vigils across Britain yesterday to mark the death of the 100th British soldier in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.Corporal Gordon Pritchard, 31, from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards died after his convoy was struck by a blast in the southern port of Umm Qasr in Basra province on Tuesday.The milestone brought condemnation from families of some of the soldiers killed in Iraq, and a protest was held by parliament on Tuesday night where the names of all those who had died were read out.Yesterday, Stop the War Coalition and Military Families Against The War are planning to hold similar protests in 100 towns around the country.”Soldiers in Iraq have told me they don’t want to be there,” said Rose Gentle, whose son Gordon was killed in June 2004.”They want to come home.They have told us to step up our campaign of resistance to this government’s war policies.”Many national newspapers suggested it was now time for British troops to come home.”How Many More Mr Blair?” asked the Daily Mail on its front page, while “Stop This” was a headline in the Daily Mirror.Prime Minister Tony Blair said the troops would stay in Iraq, saying stability there would enhance security at home.- Nampa-ReutersIt was dated January 29.The hostage takers were from the Ansar al-Tawhid Wa-Sunna militant group, Jazeera said, adding that the group also demanded that all German companies leave Iraq.The two engineers, identified in German media reports as Rene Braeunlich and Thomas Nitzschke, were abducted last Tuesday outside their workplace in the Iraqi industrial town of Baiji, 180 km north of Baghdad.They appeared in a video on Friday urging their government to help secure their release and at the time German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed to do all she could to free them.”The pictures are testimony to a crime that shows a contempt for humanity.Experts from the foreign ministry crisis group are examining the pictures carefully,” said a German foreign ministry spokesman on Tuesday.Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was being kept informed of developments and a crisis group would report to cabinet on Wednesday morning, a statement by the foreign ministry said after news of the tape was broadcast on German TV.- Nampa-Reuters —- 100th British soldier dies in Iraq LONDON – Anti-war protesters were planning to hold vigils across Britain yesterday to mark the death of the 100th British soldier in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.Corporal Gordon Pritchard, 31, from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards died after his convoy was struck by a blast in the southern port of Umm Qasr in Basra province on Tuesday.The milestone brought condemnation from families of some of the soldiers killed in Iraq, and a protest was held by parliament on Tuesday night where the names of all those who had died were read out.Yesterday, Stop the War Coalition and Military Families Against The War are planning to hold similar protests in 100 towns around the country.”Soldiers in Iraq have told me they don’t want to be there,” said Rose Gentle, whose son Gordon was killed in June 2004.”They want to come home.They have told us to step up our campaign of resistance to this government’s war policies.”Many national newspapers suggested it was now time for British troops to come home.”How Many More Mr Blair?” asked the Daily Mail on its front page, while “Stop This” was a headline in the Daily Mirror.Prime Minister Tony Blair said the troops would stay in Iraq, saying stability there would enhance security at home.- Nampa-Reuters