Sunni group seeks release of five hostages
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-01 08:31

The ZDF report said there were indications the kidnappers were Sunnis linked to the former ruling Baath party, but did not identify the source of its information.

The Berlin newspaper Tagesspiegel in Thursday's edition cited German security officials as saying Osthoff had told Iraqi authorities she planned to travel to an excavation site about 200 miles from Baghdad. The officials said insurgent sympathizers in the Iraqi security services may have passed on her plans to the kidnappers, the report said.

The four Christian aid workers were taken captive Saturday and appeared in a video broadcast Tuesday by Al-Jazeera television. A previously unknown group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness Brigade claimed they were spies.

The aid group they belonged to dismissed the allegation.

"These accusations are made routinely in these cases, without evidence of any kind and simply a justification for holding foreign nationals," Robin Buyers, a coordinator for Christian Peacemaker Teams, said Wednesday.

In urging the men's release, the Association of Muslim Scholars said freeing them would recognize their "good efforts in helping those in need."

A video grab taken from Al-Jazeera television shows two of the four foreigners taken hostage in Iraq. [AFP]

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Wednesday there was "no information to suggest that these (abductions) are connected."

"Our embassy officials are working closely with Iraqi officials and officials from other missions whose citizens are being held to locate and secure the release of these individuals," he said.

Some security experts believe the spate of kidnappings may be due to lax security. Although many foreigners were taken hostage last year, abductions tapered off after the fall of the insurgent bastion Fallujah to a U.S.-led assault in November 2004.

"It depends on availability of victims for kidnapping. People might have lowered their guards," said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at the RAND Corp. in Washington.

Insurgents may also be mixing up their tactics to draw attention, turning to kidnappings after an intense period of car bombings and suicide attacks, he said.

"Kidnappings of Iraqis have continued and never stopped," and the latest snatching of Westerners "may be the result of carelessness" in security, agreed Joost Hiltermann of International Crisis Group based in Amman, Jordan.

Another terrorism expert, Evan F. Kohlman, said the abductors may be seeking ransom.

"These are not hardcore insurgent groups," he said. "The more publicity they get about kidnapping, the better chance to make money."