30th November 2005, 01:31 PM
I am not sure that I agree with RealJob here. Granting the kidnappers financial demands is not the best long term solution. It certainly isn't UK Govt policy and according to the article posted by our host isn't the German one either. However one official quoted in the article does say that "if one Mrs. Osthoff to help wants, one within a grey range to move have", suggesting a certain flexibility.
Sympathetic though I am to the plight of individuals I have to say that any non-military westerner in Iraq is there through choice and should know the risks. Look at the Foreign Office guidance (http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?page...3618386640) which essentially says 'don't go, or if you must then realise that you will probably be kidnapped or shot at or both'.
According to the BBC the 'German Foreign Ministry has set up a crisis team to help in securing the release of the hostages'. However the German Foreign Ministry's otherwise excellent website is a bit lacking on recent information on the situation in Iraq (http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/www/en/la...index_html).
Sympathetic though I am to the plight of individuals I have to say that any non-military westerner in Iraq is there through choice and should know the risks. Look at the Foreign Office guidance (http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?page...3618386640) which essentially says 'don't go, or if you must then realise that you will probably be kidnapped or shot at or both'.
According to the BBC the 'German Foreign Ministry has set up a crisis team to help in securing the release of the hostages'. However the German Foreign Ministry's otherwise excellent website is a bit lacking on recent information on the situation in Iraq (http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/www/en/la...index_html).