BERLIN, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Despite no signs of life from Susanne Osthoff, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has said he did not believe the German woman abducted in Iraq would be killed.
"There is no reason or motive for terrorists to kill a German citizen," he said in a television interview Sunday night. "Germany did not have any troops here and did not take part in the war."
Talabani said Iraqi officials did not know the German woman's location.
"We have tried our best to find out where she is and which group is behind the kidnapping," he told German public TV station ARD, adding that he deemed it helpful for German politicians to continue to speak publicly about the kidnapping.
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, in a statement aired by Al-Jazeera last week, pleaded with the abductors to free the German archaeologist.
Osthoff and her driver were abducted on Nov. 25. In a recording, the kidnappers asked the German government to cut all ties with the new political leadership in Baghdad, otherwise the hostages would be killed.
The German Foreign Ministry has set up a crisis task force which is gathering intelligence on Osthoff's abduction.
