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"It
makes absolutely no sense to abduct a pro-Muslim German
citizen," Al-Zayat said angrily.
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By
Ahmed Al-Matboli, IOL Correspondent
BERLIN, November 29, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Muslim leaders in
Germany
have condemned the abduction of a German female archaeologist in Iraq, offering assistance to secure her release.
"We
are ready to do our utmost efforts to secure the release of Susanne
Osthoff," Ayman Mazik, the media officer of the Central Council
of Muslims in Germany, told IslamOnline.net Tuesday, November 29.
Osthoff,
a 43-year-old archaeologist and a fluent Arabic speaker, was kidnapped
in Iraq on Friday.
German
TV station ARD said it had obtained a video showing kidnappers
threatened to kill two hostages, a man and woman who were apparently
Osthoff and her driver, unless the German government broke off all
cooperation with the Iraqi government.
It
published a photograph on its Web site showing the two blindfolded
people kneeling next to three men, their faces hidden by
scarves, toting automatic rifles and a grenade-launcher.
Last
June, Sheikh Taj Aldin Al-Hilali, Grand Mufti of Australia, succeeded
in securing the release of Douglas Wood, an Australian contractor
taken hostage in Iraq.
French
Muslims were also credited with brokering the release of two French
reporters, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, who were taken
hostage in Iraq.
Unjustifiable
Mazik
condemned the abduction as running counter to the Islamic tenets.
"This
act violates the merciful teachings of Islam and human rights
values," he told IOL.
He
called on Muslims around the world to stand against all acts of
terrorism that tarnish the image of their faith.
Nadim
Elias, the council's head, also said the abduction was a clear
violation of human rights, international laws and Islamic values,
pressing for the immediate release of the German citizen.
Ibrahim
Al-Zayat, the chairman of the Muslim Assembly in Germany, said the abduction was a terrorist act that can't not be justified
under any circumstances.
"These
acts of abduction and rights violations yield no fruits. Rather, they
further complicate the situation," he told IOL.
Four
Iranian pilgrims were also missing in Iraq after being seized by gunmen on Monday as they returned from a visit
to a Shiite holy site, Iraqi police said Tuesday.
Four
foreign aid workers -- two Canadians, a Briton and an American -- were
snatched from their vehicle in western Baghdad on Saturday.
More
than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis have been kidnapped since
the US
invasion-turned-occupation of Iraq. Fifty-two foreign hostages are known to have been killed by their
captors.
Pro-Muslim
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Osthoff
has been involved in humanitarian relief efforts in Iraq since 1991. (Reuters)
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"It
makes absolutely no sense to abduct a pro-Muslim German citizen,"
Al-Zayat said angrily.
Osthoff,
who is married to a Jordanian, has been involved in humanitarian
relief efforts in Iraq since 1991.
Describing
herself as a "moderate Muslim," she helped dispatching
medical aid from Jordan
to Baghdad during the war.
Osthoff
is the first German national to be kidnapped in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.
Germany, a staunch opponent of the US-led invasion of
Iraq, has refused to send military or police officers to the occupied Arab
country to assist its fledgling security forces, but it is helping to
train them abroad.
German
Chancellor Angela Merkel has pledged to maintain the same policy.
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