A video of a German engineer pleading for his life and claiming to be ill has surfaced more than a month after he was kidnapped by Taleban rebels in Afghanistan.

The video, broadcast today on Tolo TV, a private Afghan station, show the first pictures of Rudolph Blechschmidt, 62, since his capture. He appears in poor health and is slumped over, holding his chest and coughing.

In the footage Mr Blechschmidt confirms he is being held by insurgents, he said: "I am a prisoner of the Taleban. We live in the mountains, very high in a very bad condition, please help us.

"My health is not good, I'm in a bad condition," he added, speaking in English, with a heavy German accent.

Mr Blechschmidt, who was working on a dam project, urged the Afghan and German governments to save him, he said: "I'm a friend of the Afghan people and I want the government of Afghanistan and the German embassy in Kabul and the German government to help win me my freedom."

Mr Blechschmidt was kidnapped in Wardak province, just south of the capital Kabul, on July 18. He was taken with another German, who has since been killed by the Taleban, and five Afghan employees. One of the Afghans managed to escape, four are still being held.

The video, which is less than two minutes long, also features one of the captured Afghans.

Standing in front of the other hostages, the man, who did not give his name, said: "We're Afghans," and urged Hamid Karzai., the Afghan President, the Afghan government and the parliament to ensure their release.

"We want the Karzai administration to secure our release. They should think of our children," he said.

The case of Mr Blechschmidt and his Afghan colleagues has been overshadowed by 23 South Koreans who were taken hostage a day later by Taleban rebels in neighbouring Ghazni province. Two of the South Koreans, a Christian aid group traveling from Kabul to Kandahar by road, have been killed and two sick females have been released in what insurgents described as a "goodwill" gesture.

The Taleban have demanded the release of 10 prisoners and the withdrawal of Germany's 3,000 troops in the country in exchange for the safe return of Mr Blechschmidt.

They have also demanded the release of several senior Taleban prisoners in exchange for the South Koreans.

The Afghan government has so far denied they are willing to enter into a swap deal. In March, Mr Karzai drew widespread condemnation when he ordered the release of five senior Taleban commanders in exchange for an Italian journalist kidnapped by insurgents. The Italian government told its Afghan counterparts it would withdraw its troops if they didn't comply with the Taleban demands. America and Britain were particularly vocal critics of the deal warning it would lead to further kidnappings.

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