German woman, 6 Iranians kidnapped

News of the hostage-taking emerged as the US ambassador to Iraq said Washington was seeking talks with some rebels and would reach out to Iran for help in quelling the insurgency that has raged since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

But in a further sign of the sectarian violence gripping the country, a senior Sunni Arab politician who urged his community to participate in next month's election was gunned down in Baghdad.

Germany's ARD public television reported that an unidentified German woman and her driver were seized on Friday, adding that it had obtained a video in which the kidnappers threatened to kill both unless the German government broke off all cooperation with the Iraqi government.

The woman, said to be an archaeologist in her 40s who had worked in Iraq for some time and who speaks Arabic, was seized a day before an American, two Canadians and a Briton were also taken hostage in Baghdad.

The German government was attempting "to bring the woman to safety as soon as possible" and has set up a special team to handle the affair, said spokesman Martin Jaeger.