Freed German Hostage Says Iraq Captors "Not Criminals"

A former German hostage who spent 24 days in the hands of unknown captors in Iraq said her kidnappers "were not criminals and had demanded humanitarian aid for Sunni Arab regions," Yahoo! News reports.

Hmmm.  Last time I checked, kidnapping was a crime. 

"Do not be afraid. We do not harm women or children and you are a Muslim," Susanne Osthoff quoted them as saying.

So if you're a male non-Muslim, what then?  Are the captors criminals if you are a non-Muslim male?

I think the answer would be yes.

What if your name is Margaret Hassan and you're an aid worker in Iraq? 

Then are you home free since the terrorists don't harm women and children?

Apparently not.

"I was so happy to know that I had not fallen into the hands of criminals," Susanne Osthoff said.

I'll bet you were.  Stick around and perhaps you'll get the opportunity.

"Osthoff, a Muslim convert and fluent Arabic speaker, said her captors demanded German humanitarian aid for Iraq's Sunni Arabs and stated clearly that they did not want a ransom."

Strange way of asking for humanitarian aid.  Wouldn't a grant proposal be more appropriate?

"They said we don't want money... Maybe we want from Germany ... hospitals and schools in the Sunni triangle (area northwest of Baghdad), and they would like to get money in the form of humanitarian aid," she said.

Last time I checked, the terrorists were bombing hospitals and the American soliders were building schools.

She described her captors as "poor people" and that she "cannot blame them for kidnapping her, as they cannot enter (Baghdad's heavily fortified) Green Zone to kidnap Americans."

So if they could enter Bagdad's Green Zone to kidnap Americans, would they be criminals then?

She said she lived with her captors in a clean place and that they treated her "well".

But she repeated more than once that she "was sold", without making clear what she meant, while expressing her shock at Berlin's failure to contact her captors.

"I could not believe that the Germans had not made any contact," with her kidnappers she said, describing her feelings during captivity.

"She was the first German national to be kidnapped in Iraq, and many questions remain unanswered about her ordeal."

I'll say.

_____________________________________

Update 11/29/05:  More at Little Green Footballs, Davids Medienkritik and The Big Pharaoh

Comments

[czekmark`]

Well here we have another useful idiot for the muslim terrorist cause. Cry me a river, Susanne, I'm not impressed.

[Alexandra]

I am trying to understand if all these people are stupid or simply naive. Well I say these people, because if she is a Muslim convert she falls into the first category for sure.
I wonder what is it going to take Gina? And that in a way is what I am afraid of...