A video grab taken from a video released and made available to media yesterday shows German national, whose name was given as Bernd Muehlenbeck, 59, sitting at an undisclosed location near the Pakistani-Afghan border.
DPA/Peshawar
A German aid worker kidnapped in Pakistan almost a year ago appealed for his life in a video made by his Islamist captors and broadcast on local television yesterday.
It was the first proof that the man was alive since he was abducted, along with an Italian aid worker, by gunmen from Multan city in central Punjab province on January 19.
In the 52-second video, broadcast by Dunya News Television, the man said Mujahideen (freedom fighters) had captured him because of the “bad policies” of the German government.
“Please accept the demands of the Mujahideen. They can kill us at any time. We don’t know when. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe at three days,” he said.
There was no mention of the Italian in the video, although the German said “we”.
He spoke in English in the video and said he was 59. He also said he works for Welthungerhilfe, a German non-govermental organisation working in food security and other humanitarian assistance works.
The German national also warned that no “foolish attempts” should be made to rescue him using force against his captors.
No demand was made in the video.