The Afghan private TV channel Tolo TV broadcast on Sunday a video tape of the German woman kidnapped a day earlier asking for the release of prisoners in change of her own release, as she was told to.

The tape presented the abducted aid-worker wearing a white scarf on her head, sitting on the floor. She identified herself as Christina Meier, she said “I am OK” and then proceeded with reading a letter in Dari, the Afghan language, demanding on behalf of her kidnappers the release of unidentified prisoners. She showed to the camera her ID card and she said that she worked for aid-charity ORA International.

She was asked to make the remarks both in Dari and in English by an off-camera man, in broken English. “I am fine. There are not threats against me. I want from my country to do what it can for my release,” she said in Dari, reading from the paper, sometimes looking towards the camera.

A male voice off-camera demanded her to use the words “to help” and “urgent”. She went on saying: “Please help for my release, and help me”.

Afterwards a man covered with a scarf on his head and wearing sunglasses inside the room appeared and exposed the abducting group’s demands in change of the woman’s release. He asked for the release of a number of unknown innocent people imprisoned by the government of President Hamid Karzai. Their demand resembles the one made by the insurgents that have kidnapped the 23 South Koreans.

“For her release, we want (President) Hamid Karzai's government to free our innocent prisoners. We don't have any other demands. We're not bad people, we're not Taliban either. We're a special group. We'll release the names of our prisoners who are jailed with the government later,” he said in Dari.

Tolo TV interrupted its afternoon programme to broadcast the less-than-a-minute recording. The private channel didn’t disclose how they got the tape.

According to intelligence officials investigating the incident, four men went to the front of the restaurant by car, a grey Toyota Corolla. Only one of them went inside the restaurant and ordered a pizza, then pulled out a gun and directed to the table where the 31-year old woman was sitting with her husband. The kidnapper abducted her, but left her husband there. The other attackers were waiting outside, two in front of the restaurant, one in the car.

The police saw the car leaving the premises at high speed and tried to stop it, opening gun fire at it. In the altercation, one taxi driver was shot dead by the police.

Kabul provincial police chief Esmatullah Dauladzai expressed his optimism concerning the release of the woman, but didn’t give more details. The police said that the group doesn’t include Talibans.

This abduction deepens concern upon civil security, after 23 South Koreans and two Germans have been abducted in the last month. One German and two of the kidnapped South Koreans were shot dead, the rest of them still being kept in captivity.