Kohl Warns Iraq Is ‘Playing With Fire’ by Holding Hostages

German Chancellor Helmut Kohl said Thursday that Iraq is “playing with fire” by holding foreigners and that a swift solution of the hostage question is essential to peacefully resolving the Persian Gulf crisis.

“We hope that by Christmas--the celebration of peace for all Christians--all foreign hostages will be allowed to leave (Iraq and Kuwait),” Kohl told the Bundestag, the federal Parliament.

He told deputies that “whoever wants a peaceful solution, whoever wants to rule out a military conflict, must know that a solution of the hostage question has highest priority. And the Iraqi leadership must know that by continuing to hold foreigners in Kuwait and Iraq, it is considerably increasing the conflict and is playing with fire.”

Kohl welcomed the announcement that all Germans still held by Iraq will be released in a few days, but he stressed that “our efforts were always aimed at the release of all hostages from all nations.”