Susanne Osthoff Bogus Kidnapping?
The kidnapping of Susanne Osthoff is starting to get smellier and smellier. Here's a brief recap.
She was a German archaeologist living in Iraq, and was apparently targeted by extremist groups close to Zarqawi. She was kidnapped along with her driver November 25th. To get Susanne back, the terrorists wanted Germany to stop working with the new Iraqi government. Germany's Chancellor in regards to this kidnapping said:
Imagine our surprise when a short while later that money reportedly did change hands, a Lebanese terrorist (Hezbollah) was released and allowed to return to Lebanon (the terrorist is none other than Mohammed Ali Hamadi who killed US Navy diver Robert Stethem during a hijacking, I wrote about it here.) and then Susanne Osthoff was miraculously released! Purely for diplomatic reasons of course.
Here's where the stench really starts to burn my nose hairs. According to German sources, Susanne Osthoff worked freelance for German intelligence! She was attempting to set up meetings with top Al-Qaeda people, purportedly Zarqawi himself. She speaks Arabic, is a convert to Islam, lived in Iraq for over a decade, and was supposedly setting up this meeting for a German intelligence agent. This whole thing throws an interesting light on some of her earlier startling comments about her kidnapping:
Another great little detail, according to a Reuters report, some of the money used to secure her freedom was found on her possession after her release. The serial numbers matched those of bills used to pay her way out.
Read all the details through Jawa.
She was a German archaeologist living in Iraq, and was apparently targeted by extremist groups close to Zarqawi. She was kidnapped along with her driver November 25th. To get Susanne back, the terrorists wanted Germany to stop working with the new Iraqi government. Germany's Chancellor in regards to this kidnapping said:
"This government, this parliament will not let itself be blackmailed ... It (terrorism) is directed at everything that is important to us, at the core of our civilization. It is directed against our entire value system."
Imagine our surprise when a short while later that money reportedly did change hands, a Lebanese terrorist (Hezbollah) was released and allowed to return to Lebanon (the terrorist is none other than Mohammed Ali Hamadi who killed US Navy diver Robert Stethem during a hijacking, I wrote about it here.) and then Susanne Osthoff was miraculously released! Purely for diplomatic reasons of course.
Here's where the stench really starts to burn my nose hairs. According to German sources, Susanne Osthoff worked freelance for German intelligence! She was attempting to set up meetings with top Al-Qaeda people, purportedly Zarqawi himself. She speaks Arabic, is a convert to Islam, lived in Iraq for over a decade, and was supposedly setting up this meeting for a German intelligence agent. This whole thing throws an interesting light on some of her earlier startling comments about her kidnapping:
"Do not be afraid. We do not harm women or children and you are a Muslim," she quoted them as saying. "I was so happy to know that I had not fallen into the hands of criminals."
She described her captors as "poor people" and said that she "cannot blame them for kidnapping her, as they cannot enter [Baghdad's heavily fortified] Green Zone to kidnap Americans."
Another great little detail, according to a Reuters report, some of the money used to secure her freedom was found on her possession after her release. The serial numbers matched those of bills used to pay her way out.
Read all the details through Jawa.
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