Kurdish rebels release German hostages

Three Germans held captive by Kurdish rebels have been released Sunday.

Mehmet Cetin, the governor of the city of Agri in Turkey, told reporters that after officials check the health of the hostages, they will be returned to Germany.

"They have been kept in the mountains under bad conditions; naturally we are concerned about their health," he said.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party, known as the PKK, confirmed taking the three hostages -- Helmut Johann, Martin Georpe and Lars Holper Reime -- from Mount Agri on July 9, the Firat News Agency, a pro-Kurdish Web site that frequently carries statements from the PKK, reported.

Soon after the Germans were taken hostage, the rebels said they would hold them until the German government stops "its enemy-like politics" against them.

"We are not the enemies of the German people, and we have not mistreated any of the hostages," the PKK said, according to Firat. "Unless the German government announces it has stopped its enemy-like politics towards PKK and the Kurds, we will not release the German citizens."

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier then issued a statement saying the government refuses to be "blackmailed."

Germany and the rest of European Union considers PKK a terrorist organization and tensions between Kurdish militants and Europe have been on the rise. The largest portion of Germany's foreign population is from Turkey, which hopes to join the EU.

In June, Germany banned a Kurdish television station that the country's interior minister said was a mouthpiece for the armed group. Germany also extradited two PKK militants to Turkey last year.

In April, a report released by Europol -- the EU law enforcement agency -- said PKK claimed responsibility for 14 out of 15 terror attacks in Germany last year. Also in 2007, nearly 40 suspected PKK members were arrested in five EU nations -- Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Slovakia.

Turkey in recent months stepped up its campaign against PKK bases in northern Iraq, in response to increased attacks by the group.

The PKK is a leftist insurgent group that formed in 1984 to fight for an independent Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey and adjacent areas in northern Iraq and Iran. The group initiated an armed independence campaign that year.

Since then, an estimated 35,000 people have died in the conflict.

The rebels more recently claimed to fight for greater rights for Kurds who live in Turkey, according to the U.S. government.