Reports in the media on Tuesday that Susanne Osthoff, a former hostage in Iraq, had expressed the wish to return to that country were greeted with disbelief and consternation in Germany. On Monday the 43-year-old archaeologist had given her first interview since her Dec. 19 release to the Arab TV station Al Jazeera and had apparently indicated that she planned to go back to take up her aid work. However, on Tuesday afternoon, speaking to the German TV station ZDF, she denied that she had no clear plans to return to Iraq. The confusion was blamed on an initial inaccurate translation of the interview. Al Jazeera has now released a full transcript in English.

Regardless of whether she returns to Iraq, Osthoff seems to have squandered much of the goodwill she had enjoyed in Germany during and immediately after her captivity. Her interpretation of the kidnapping itself, which she describes as "political" rather than criminal, has raised more than a few eyebrows. And her refusal to return to Germany (from Jordan, where ZDF says she "plausibly" is), or to contact her own family, has been held with a dim view by some. The tabloid Bild asks why she hasn’t called her mother: "Every time the phone calls it must be hell for her."

The left-of-center Süddeutsche Zeitung is also pretty critical of Osthoff. It concedes that she has the right to live wherever she chooses, "even if it is in the vicinity of kidnappers who kept her prisoner for weeks and blackmailed the government." But equally, her fellow citizens, "who until now have thought well of her, have the right to turn away". The commentator thinks Osthoff's risk of being kidnapped again in Iraq is slight: "After the pirouettes of the last few days –- to express it cynically –- Osthoff's market value has decreased." The kidnap victim says she was abducted by virtual friends, so "who would believe her if she needed help again?"

The Süddeutsche argues that Osthoff's behavior is a snub to the German government, which presumably paid a high sum for her release. "Every citizen who ultimately contributed to this money can only be alienated by the archaeologist's point of view." And it sees her behavior as having negative repercussions for other foreigners in Iraq. "Her appearance on Arab TV is like an invitation to copycat kidnappers. Osthoff has increased the danger to other Western aid workers."

The conservative Die Welt also emphasizes that Osthoff is free to do as she pleases. "A free state must take care of its citizens," writes the paper, "even when they have no patriotic feelings." However, if she were to return to Iraq, and got kidnapped again, "would there be a second ransom to pay? Such a possibility would be unfortunate for a state that cannot renege on its duty to protect its own citizens." According to the paper, the government is right in its decision to cease funding her aid projects in order to discourage her from returning.

The Financial Time Deutschland is somewhat less harsh in its judgement of Osthoff, though it admits that she doesn’t make it easy for the German people. For weeks, a government crisis team worked around the clock for her release, with Middle East and terrorism experts, psychologists and archaeologists analyzing who she was, how she thought, and whether she could be rescued. "After all the appeals and vigils," writes the paper, "she prefers to talk (first) to Al Jazeera than to German TV," and then she wants to go back "to the land of her torturers rather than that of her liberators."

However, the FTD warns against labelling Osthoff crazy or judging her on moral grounds. "She is a free citizen, and the greatest risk if she returned to Iraq would be to herself." The papers points out that she is prepared to risk her life for Iraq's cultural assets. "That is somewhat different from a frivolous extreme sports nuts, looking for an adrenalin kick."

The left-wing daily, Die Tageszeitung, rarely runs with the pack, and today is no exception. The paper regards criticism of Osthoff as an indication that most Germans wanted her to be something she is not. In the Al Jazeera interview, a quaint image of Osthoff was absent: "the good daughter, who wants nothing more than to return home to celebrate Christmas with her loved ones," "the German victim of Iraqi criminals," "the European who had to learn for herself the difference between civilized Europe and a Middle East infested with terrorism." That Osthoff does not exist, writes TAZ. Instead Osthoff appeared in the interview as "an Arab, an Iraqi hostage -- like hundreds, if not thousands of others." There was no trace of the idea of "us over here, and them over there."