Hostage Begs for Help

"I am a prisoner of the Taliban," the man identified as Rudolf B. said in English in the video shown on Afghan private channel Tolo TV. "We live in the mountains, very high in a very bad condition. Please help us."

"I am in very bad shape," the 62-year-old said in German. He said his medication would only last for three more days and that time was running out. His statements were interrupted by coughing attacks.

The almost two-minute-long video showed the Bavarian sitting bent over on a blanket as well as four other captives, apparently some of the five Afghans who had been abducted along with Rudolf B. on July 18. There was no clear indication of when or where the video was filmed.

The German said that the Taliban had tried to negotiate with the Afghan government, but that Kabul had rejected the overtures. The kidnappers had also attempted to contact the German embassy, he said.

Crisis team analyzes video

One of the Afghans in the video called on President Hamid Karsai to take action for the hostages' release.

"We are Afghans. The Taliban are also Afghans. We are sure that there is a possibility that the Karsai government can get us released," he said.

A spokeswoman for Germany's foreign ministry said the department's crisis team was analyzing the details of the video. "It continues to work intensively to secure the hostage's release," she told the AP news agency.

Rudolf B. had complained in a telephone interview with German public TV ARD on Sunday that the German government was not exerting enough pressure for his release, the broadcaster reported.

Berlin has rejected the kidnappers' demand that Germany bring home the roughly 3,000 soldiers it has deployed to Afghanistan in exchange for letting the hostages go.

Rudolf B. and his colleague Rüdiger D. were kidnapped in the southern province of Wardak over five weeks ago. Afghan police found the body of Rüdiger D. four days later. An autopsy showed he had been shot after collapsing from a dizzy spell.