BAGHDAD, April 3 (UPI) -- Iraqi kidnappers holding a German mother and son hostage posted an Internet video saying they'd kill them if Germany doesn't pull out of Afghanistan.
"I urge the German people to help me in my difficult situation," hostage Hannelore Krause, 61, said, Deutsche Welle reported. "Germany was safe before it got involved in this satanic coalition with America against what they call terrorism."
Krause and her son, Sinan, who is in his 20s, were kidnapped Feb. 6 from her Baghdad home. Krause is married to an Iraqi doctor and worked for the Austrian Embassy. Her son, who has dual German and Iraqi citizenship, worked at the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.
The kidnappers' demand represented an extension of an earlier deadline. Previously, they threatened to kill the pair if Germany didn't withdraw from Afghanistan by Feb. 21.
German officials denounced the video.
"Naturally, given the situation, we are greatly concerned," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Deutsche Welle. "We know what our commitment to the civilian rebuilding means to the Afghan government and we should not be blackmailed by people who are terrorists."
Germany opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq but has 3,000 troops in Afghanistan.
