German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Monday that her country would not be blackmailed over demands to pull its troops out of Afghanistan in return for freeing two Germans kidnapped in Iraq.

"The German government cannot be blackmailed," Merkel said after talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Berlin. "Naturally, given the situation, we are greatly concerned. We know what our commitment to the civilian rebuilding means to the Afghan government and we should not be blackmailed by people who are terrorists."

Hannelore Krause, 61, who is married to an Iraqi doctor, and her 20-year-old son Sinan, who works at the Iraqi foreign ministry, were kidnapped Feb. 6.

A militant Islamist group in Iraq called the Kataeb Siham al-Haq (Righteous Arrows Battalions) has threatened to execute the hostages unless Germany pulls its soldiers out of Afghanistan.

Germany has nearly 3,000 troops in northern Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. The Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament, recently agreed to deploy six Tornado reconnaissance warplanes to the region.

Staying the course

Karzai told reporters after the talks that Afghanistan had made significant progress since US-led forces overthrew the extremist Taliban leadership in 2001. He added that it would be "many, many years" before Afghanistan achieved its goals.

"That time will come with hard work from the Afghan people and cooperation from the international community," Karzai said, adding that Germany should maintain its troops stationed in northern Afghanistan.

"The presence of German forces in Afghanistan, the presence of aid workers from Germany in Afghanistan and the presence of German assistance to Afghanistan has enabled our desire to be fulfilled partly," he said.

Withdrawal a catastrophe

Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta also warned that a German withdrawal would be disastrous at a time when the country is facing a renewed Taliban insurgency.

"The withdrawal of the German army would be a catastrophe for the security and the democratic process in my country," Spanta told Germany's public broadcaster ARD. "I hope the hostages in Iraq are freed soon, but I also hope that the German commitment to peace and stability is maintained."

Karzai agreed, echoing Merkel by saying that terror would "have no end" if nations changed their policies according to terorrists' demands.

An opinion poll in Der Spiegel news magazine this week showed that 57 percent of Germans believe their country should pull its troops out of Afghanistan.

Italian hostage freed

Meanwhile, Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo, held hostage in Afghanistan for two weeks, has been freed, the Italian foreign ministry said Monday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Alessandro Cortese told AFP that
Mastrogiacomo, 52, had spoken to the Italian ambassador in Kabul,
Ettore Francesco Sequi, by telephone to confirm his release.