GERMANY yesterday rejoiced over the release of its only hostage in Iraq, Susanne Osthoff, a 43-year-old archaeologist.

The kidnapping, on November 25, prompted candlelit vigils across the country and threatened to suck Germany deeper into the Iraq conflict.

“She’s in good condition and is in safety in the German Embassy in Baghdad,” Robert Osthoff, her brother, said.

The turning point could have come when Germany formally approached the US for assistance. Germany has no troops in Iraq and throughout the three weeks Frau Osthoff was held, it depended on US and British intelligence.

German television speculated yesterday that the kidnapping of Frau Osthoff may have been a case of mistaken identity, with the hostage takers, known as “The Brigade of the Earthquake”, assuming that she was politically significant.

Frau Osthoff was married to an Iraqi citizen from the Anisi tribe who led a nomadic life in the area along the Syrian, Jordanian and Iraqi borders, a haven for smugglers. As a result, it was assumed that Frau Osthoff knew many desert routes and had inside knowledge of the feuding clans.

According to one of her friends, the journalist and author Christoph Reuter, she was offered US protection in return for giving information to American scouts in the region.

She apparently turned down the offer, even after a US officer printed out a foreign intelligence service e-mail that showed that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the mastermind of the Iraqi insurgency, had decided that she should be seized. Frau Osthoff was determined to set up a German cultural centre in Arbil, in the relatively safe Kurdish area of northern Iraq.

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