German hostage freed in Afghanistan

But First: Something to crack you up: Ray Stevens “Ahab the Arab”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNBQLAqhFkU[/youtube]

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan police freed a female German hostage from a Kabul neighborhood and arrested a group of kidnappers early Monday, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.

A German aid worker identified herself as Christina Meier in a video shown on Afghan television.

The 31-year-old aid worker was freed during a raid in the western part of the capital not far from the restaurant where she was seized Saturday while dining with her husband, Zemary Bashari said.

The woman’s husband was not abducted.

“A group of kidnappers were arrested,” Bashari said.

In Berlin, a spokeswoman for Germany’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the woman was “in safety at the German Embassy” in Kabul.

On Sunday, Afghan television broadcast what it said was video of the woman, who identified herself as Christina Meier, calling for the release of unspecified prisoners while being prompted by a man.

Police have said Taliban militants were not behind the woman’s brazen daytime abduction.

The woman was shown sitting on the floor inside a room, her head covered with a white scarf. She said “I am OK” and then read a letter in the Afghan language, Dari, calling for the release of unknown prisoners.

She was prompted to make remarks in English and in Dari by a man speaking in broken English.

The private Tolo TV, which broadcast the video, did not say how it obtained the material.

“I am fine. There are not threats against me. I want from my country to do what it can for my release,” she said in Dari, reading from a piece of paper while seated, occasionally looking up toward the camera.

A male voice off-camera prompted her to say, “to help” and he told her to use the word “urgent.”

“Please help for my release, and help me,” she said.

A man, his head covered with a scarf and wearing sunglasses inside a room, appeared afterward in the video and demanded the Afghan government release a number of unknown prisoners. He said a member of the group would provide the government with the list.

“We are not bad people. We are a special network,” the man said at the end of the video. He did not identify the group or say whether it is linked to the Taliban or other insurgents operating in Afghanistan.

* ‘We are not bad, we are special…” Good one, that. Where did we hear that before?

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Korean hostages released by Taliban return home

New Delhi: Two female South Koreans, Kim Kyung-ja and Kim Ji-na, return home after being held hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan for more than three weeks

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