Germany has had no contact with kidnappers

German leaders said today they still have had no contact with the kidnappers of a German woman seized in Iraq and Chancellor Angela Merkel said considering paying a ransom was "not up for discussion" at this time.

Susanne Osthoff and her Iraqi driver were taken last Friday, and were pictured in a videotape blindfolded on a floor, with militants - one armed with a rocket propelled grenade - standing beside them.

The militants are reportedly demanding that Germany cease its dealings with Iraq's government or they will kill the hostages. Germany was an ardent opponent of the US-led invasion of Iraq and has refused to send troops there, but has been training Iraqi soldiers and police outside the country.

Merkel indicated in a speech yesterday that Germany will not change its Iraq policy, stressing that the country "will not let ourselves be blackmailed" over Osthoff's abduction.

Today, Merkel told reporters that the government was "doing all its can to save her life and that of her companion."

Asked if Germany would consider paying a ransom, Merkel said that was "not up for discussion at all now."

"At the moment it is about very elementary questions ... First of all, we are interested in finding out how to make contact with the kidnappers," Merkel said.

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier met today with a special crisis group of 18 ministry employees who have been working around the clock on the case.

Osthoff is the first German kidnapped in Iraq, and Steinmeier said his team was in contact with other countries whose citizens have been taken, naming Italy and France. The German ambassador in Baghdad met yesterday with Sunni religious leaders to try to enlist their help.

"Through the night we were not able to put together any substantial new revelations," Steinmeier said.

Osthoff, a humanitarian aid worker who had studied archaeology, had been working on the renovation of historic building in Mosul, according to local officials. It has been speculated that she was perhaps taken because of her work there, but Steinmeier said there was no confirmation of that.

"I consider that a possibility, but not the unalterable conclusion," he said.

In an interview with Germany's Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung published today, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani condemned the kidnapping and pledged he would do what he could to secure her release.

"I deeply abhor this act of terror, and give my deepest sympathy and solidarity to the family and friends of those kidnapped," Talabani was quoted as saying.

"We will work with the German government in every conceivable way to release Susanne Osthoff from captivity as a hostage."

Meanwhile Wolfgang Bosbach, a senior member of Merkel's Christian Democrats, said the incident shows that Germany is not immune from terrorism.

"It would be fatal to think, simply because we were not militarily involved in the Iraq war, that we're on the safe side," Bosbach told the Netzeitung.

"Therefore we must not diminish our efforts in the fight against international terrorism."