Two Germans held hostage in Iraq appeared in a video today urging their government to help secure their release and German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed to do everything in her power to free the men.
The recording, aired by Arabic news broadcaster al-Jazeera, showed the pair with masked gunmen standing behind them.
Their voices were inaudible, but al-Jazeera said the video, which had a date stamp of Januuary 24, the day of their abduction, showed the two men urging Berlin to help secure their release.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters the footage was "devastating".
Ms Merkel said all of Germany had been "deeply moved by the images" and vowed that the government "will do everything it can to bring our fellow countrymen home safely, unharmed and healthy."
Mr Steinmeier said in an interview with Germany's RTL television "contact with the kidnappers had been made". The Foreign Ministry later clarified this, saying the word "contact" referred only to the release of the video.
Germany's foreign intelligence service, the BND, was analysing the footage, though a spokesman declined to comment on any conclusions BND analysts might have reached.
Al-Jazeera said the tape was received from a group that calls itself the Brigade of Ansar al-Tawhid Wa-Sunna. The group did not make any demands through the recording.
The word "al-Tawhid" is well known in Germany because of the "al-Tawhid trial" at a Duesseldorf court.
