German hostage appears in Afghan video

KABUL (AFP) - A German engineer held hostage by the Taliban appealed for help in a video broadcast Thursday on private Afghan television which showed him slumped over and coughing.

Speaking with apparent difficulty, Rudolph Blechschmidt said that he was a prisoner and in poor health, and urged the Afghan government and German embassy to do all they could to secure his release.

The 62-year-old was kidnapped in southern Afghanistan on July 18, one day before a group of South Korean aid workers were also abducted.

"I'm a prisoner. My health condition is not good, I'm in a bad condition," Blechschmidt said in the video shown by Tolo television station, which was less than two minutes long.

"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 me win my freedom," he said.

Blechschmidt spoke in English with a strong German accent but most of what he said was not audible and was translated into Dari by the television station.

Four Afghan colleagues abducted with Blechschmidt were also shown in the video.

The Taliban demanded, according to the channel's presenter, that Germany withdraw its 3,000 NATO-led troops from Afghanistan.