Iraqi gunmen threaten to kill German woman - TV
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-11-29 11:31

Kidnappers in Iraq have threatened to kill a German woman and her driver unless Berlin stops cooperating with the U.S. -backed Iraqi government, German state television ARD reported on Tuesday.

A German Foreign Ministry spokesman travelling with Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in Washington the woman had been missing since Friday and that a unit had been set up to secure her safety.

The kidnappers made their threat in a video tape handed to ARD in Baghdad, the television said.

Extracts from the tape on ARD's Web site showed two people sitting on the ground with their eyes covered by white material. They were surrounded by three masked, armed figures, one of whom appeared to be reading from a piece of paper.

Germany's new conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to improve relations with the United States and said earlier this month Berlin would carry on with the previous government's policy of helping to train Iraqi forces outside Iraq.

Former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, souring links with Washington.