German man kidnapped by Taliban appears on TV

A German engineer kidnapped by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan more than a month ago was shown pleading for help Thursday in a videotape broadcast on a local television station. "I am a prisoner of the Taliban," said the man, who identified himself as Rudolf Blechschmidt. "We live in the mountains, very high in a very bad condition, please help us," he said. The video was broadcast on privately owned Tolo TV. The station did not say how it obtained the footage, and there was no indication of when it was shot.