Susanne Kristina Osthoff (born 7 March 1962) is a German

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

who had worked in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

from 1991 until being taken hostage there on 25 November 2005. She was freed by her captors on 18 December 2005.

Biography

Osthoff grew up in Grafing (

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

) with two brothers and one sister. She studied

Near Eastern archaeology Near Eastern archaeology is a regional branch of the wider, global discipline of archaeology. It refers generally to the excavation and study of artifacts and material culture of the Near East from antiquity to the recent past. Definition The ...

and

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew language, Hebrew, Maltese language, Maltese, Modern South Arabian language ...

at the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

. After her studies, she moved to

to work in archaeology, including the excavation of the 4,000 year-old Islin site. She subsequently married an Iraqi

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

Muslim of the Shammar Tribe and converted to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

Abduction

On 25 November, Osthoff and her driver vanished in Northern Iraq. Two days later, a video clip was released showing the two captives surrounded by masked, armed men who read a statement threatening to kill the hostages unless the German government stopped cooperation with the Iraqi government. Osthoff and her driver were freed from their captors on 18 December 2005. A spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry, Martin Jäger, confirmed that "the German government and the German embassy in Baghdad were involved" in securing Osthoff's release. However, German government officials declined to comment on whether they paid a ransom for her release.

Controversies

In her first interview after release, Osthoff appeared in a full

niqab A niqāb, niqab, or niqaab (; ), also known as a ruband () or rubandah (), is a long garment worn by some Muslim women in order to cover their entire body and face, excluding their eyes. It is an interpretation in Islam of the concept of ...

and told Al Jazeera that the kidnappers assured her she was safe and that they knew she was "Iraq's friend." She expressed her further comfort that she "knew hewas not in the hands of criminals." While she was showering at the German embassy in Baghdad immediately after her release, officers from the BND found "several thousand dollars" rubberbanded to Osthoff. The serial numbers on the bills matched those on the money paid to secure her release. Osthoff claims that the money was given to her by her kidnappers as "compensation" for her ordeal and restitution for £9,500 that was stolen from her when she was kidnapped. Some believe that Germany traded the terrorist Mohammed Ali Hamadi, who was convicted of the murder of

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

sailor

Robert Stethem Robert Dean Stethem (November 17, 1961 – June 15, 1985) was a United States Navy Seabee (US Navy), Seabee diver who was murdered by Hezbollah members during the aircraft hijacking, hijacking of the commercial airliner he was aboard, TWA Fl ...

during the hijacking of

TWA Flight 847 TWA Flight 847 was a regularly scheduled Trans World Airlines flight from Cairo to San Diego with en route stops in Athens, Rome, Boston, and Los Angeles. On the morning of June 14, 1985, Flight 847 was hijacked soon after take off from Athens. ...

, for Susanne Osthoff's release. The German government has denied that her release was linked to Hamadi's.

References

External links

'No Rescue of German Hostage Imminent'
''

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

'', 6 December 2005
'Christians and Muslims pray for Iraq hostage'
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 12 December 2005
'German hostage in Iraq is free'
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

'', 18 December 2005 *
Freed German hostage says Iraq captors not criminals
, 27 December 2005 *

Tagesschau (German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, se ...

22 December 2005 * "Totaler Kontrollverlust", Der Spiegel, 1/2006, pp 92–95 {{DEFAULTSORT:Osthoff, Susanne 1962 births 20th-century German archaeologists 2000s missing person cases 21st-century German archaeologists Archaeologists from Bavaria Converts to Islam Foreign hostages in Iraq Formerly missing German people German Muslims German people taken hostage German women archaeologists Kidnapped German people Living people Missing person cases in Iraq Women in the Iraq War Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni

Biography

Abduction

Controversies

See also

References

External links