Two Germans missing in Iraq, Foreign Ministry says

BRUSSELS, Feb 12 (Reuters) Two Germans are missing in Iraq and may have been kidnapped, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said today.

''We cannot rule out that they have been forcibly abducted,'' he told reporters on arrival at an EU foreign ministers meeting.

''Of course we are doing everything so that the two German nationals return safe and sound to their families,'' he added, without naming the two.

A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Berlin said they were ''taking all the necessary steps'' but declined to elaborate.

Germany's Der Tagesspiegel newspaper reported in an advance copy of an article to appear tomorrow that the missing Germans were the 60-year-old wife of an Iraqi doctor and her son, in his mid 20s.

German state broadcaster ARD said the mother and son had dual Iraqi-German citizenship.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman declined to offer any information about their dual citizenship. ''I can confirm that these are two German citizens and for us it doesn't matter what their address is,'' he said.

He added the German government believed there were about 100 people with German citizenship in Iraq, including embassy staff.

Others with German citizenship have family ties in Iraq and live there permanently, while some others ignored German government warnings and were in Iraq on short stays.

Last year two German engineers were captured in Iraq and held for 99 days before they were freed. It is not clear if ransom was paid.

Before that, German archaeologist Susanne Osthoff, who was permanently living in Iraq, was kidnapped by an Islamist group. She sparked controversy after her release when she vowed to return.

Reuters KR DB2118