Tough Job for Berlin

A spokeswoman for the German Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that the emergency task force, headed up by Deputy Foreign Minister Reinhard Silberberg, is "making every effort to secure the safe return of the Germans to their families."

The German government has kept a tight lid on information regarding the missing citizens. But Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday did not exclude the possibility of a "violent kidnapping."

Meanwhile, anonymous intelligence sources have confirmed to the Web site of Germany's Der Spiegel news magazine that the wife of a Baghdad-based Iraqi man and her son, a technician at the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, were kidnapped by Iraqi gunmen last week.

It is unclear whether the kidnappers are politically motivated or simply interested in a ransom payment. According to initial media reports, the kidnappers contacted the young man's sister in Berlin, who then alerted German authorities. But officials have since interrogated the woman, and subsequent reports could not confirm that the kidnappers had contacted her.

Key Iraqi mediator also kidnapped

This is Germany's third hostage crisis since the start of the Iraq war in March 2003.

At the end of 2005, Bavarian archaeologist Susanne Osthoff and her driver were taken hostage. The German government eventually secured their release, allegedly after paying a hefty ransom. In January 2006, Iraqi gunmen abducted two technicians, Rene Bräunlich and Thomas Nitzschke. The pair was also freed unharmed.

In all three cases, the head of the Baghdad-based German-Iraqi Club, Dr. Abdulhalim al-Hijjaj helped the German government mediate their release. Al-Hijjaj speaks fluent German and is connected with local tribal leaders in the so-called Sunni Triangle just north of Baghdad.

The German Foreign Ministry rewarded the man for his assistance with two tickets to a soccer World Cup game in Stuttgart. But the Iraqi mediator never saw Germany beat Portugal 3-1. Seven days prior to the game, al-Hijjaj himself was snatched up off the street by two gunmen.

The kidnappers had allegedly learned of his mediation efforts for the German government, and assumed he had been richly rewarded. The German government could not help al-Hijjaj, and he was only freed on July 7 after his wife had emptied the family bank account and paid a ransom of 150,000 euros ($197,115). The couple then fled to Jordan, where they now live an impoverished life, according to media reports.

No help for the helper

Al-Hijjaj's plight has prompted calls from some in Germany to help the man who played a valuable role in securing the release of former German nationals taken hostage in Iraq.

Peter Bienert, the head of the Leipzig-based firm Cryotec, where former hostages Bräunlich and Nitzschke are employed, told German news agency dpa "the man (Al-Hijjaj) has been abandoned." Bienert has reportedly collected several thousand euros in donations for Al-Hijjaj.

Meanwhile, opposition leaders in the German parliament have called on the government to offer him some assistance. The foreign ministry and the chancellery claim there is no room in the budget for this.

But Werner Hoyer, a member of the opposition free-market liberal FDP said financing was not a problem.

"Of course something can be done there," he said. "To simply pretend there is no leeway in the budget is nonsense."

Indeed, German foreign ministers have discretionary funds at their disposal for emergencies. But CDU parliamentarian Siegfried Kauder said the foreign ministry is reluctant to tap into these funds. That sort of "non-bureaucratic assistance would create a precedent" for future kidnappers, he said.

Kauder recommended Hijjaj contact the White Ring, a relief organization for victims of violence.

"He has to be the victim of a violent crime, and he has to be in financial need," said Kauder, who is a member of the organization's board of directors.

"Then we can offer non-bureaucratic help -- also to foreigners."