Iraqi kidnappers free German hostage

SUSANNE Osthoff, the German woman taken hostage in Iraq, was freed last night.

Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier did not say how she was freed and left a press conference without taking questions.

"She is no longer in the hands of the kidnappers," he said, adding that she appeared to be in good physical condition.

Ms Osthoff disappeared on November 25 with her Iraqi driver. Days later, the two were shown in a videotape blindfolded and sitting on a floor, with militants one armed with a rocket-propelled grenade standing beside them.

The captors threatened to kill the hostages unless Germany stopped dealing with the Iraqi government.

German authorities have not identified her captors, and it remained unclear whether Berlin had been able to establish any kind of contact with them.

Mr Steinmeier said she is now in the German Embassy in Baghdad.

The kidnappers said they would release her driver as well, but from Mr Steinmeier's statement it was not clear if the driver had been freed.

Meanwhile, a string of attacks killed 19 people, including two relatives of a senior Kurdish official, in Iraq, while US Vice President Dick Cheney made a surprise visit in which he suggested Iraq's elections were a major step toward withdrawing US troops.

Mr Cheney's visit, under heavy security, was so secret that even Iraq's prime minister said he was surprised when he showed up for what he believed was a meeting with the US ambassador only to see Mr Cheney waiting to greet him.

The attacks late Saturday and early yesterday pierced three days of relative calm after Iraq's first election for a full-term parliament.

The violence, including two suicide bombings, came after authorities eased stringent security measures put in place for the election and traffic returned to normal on the first full working day since Thursday's vote.

In the northern city of Kirkuk, two relatives of an official of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan were shot late Saturday as they walked near their house, police said.

Millions of Iraqis voted to choose a four-year parliament in an election that passed peacefully around the country.

The big turnout has boosted hopes increasing political participation may undermine the insurgency and allow US troops to begin pulling out next year.