BERLIN (AP) – The German government said Saturday it was making intense efforts to secure the release of an aid worker in Iraq, but declined to comment on a report that her kidnappers may have an Arab nationalist background.
The weekly Der Spiegel, which cited no sources, said the group that took Susanne Osthoff used the name "Saraya al-Zilzal," or "Brigades of the Earthquake."
That, it said, led German officials to suspect it may have Arab nationalist links, as a group of a similar name has cooperated with the Ishrin Brigades, or 1920 Revolution Brigades, whose declared aim is to liberate Iraq from foreign military and political occupation.
Osthoff, 43, was seized along with her driver on Nov. 25.
In a video made public on Tuesday, kidnappers threatened to kill her unless Germany stops dealing with the Iraqi government.
While German officials have yet to establish contact with Osthoff”s captors, Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Germany will not be "blackmailed."
The German Foreign Ministry refused to comment on the report of the kidnappers” name or on reports by Der Spiegel and another weekly, Focus, that the kidnappers” ultimatum expired in the early hours of Friday.
Speaking on customary condition of anonymity, a spokesman said only that the Berlin government would "pursue its efforts intensively" in the case.
Germany was an ardent opponent of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and has refused to send troops there, but has been training Iraqi soldiers and police outside the country.