Baghdad, Iraq ? In the grainy footage, a pale woman in a blue veil clutches her weeping son and pleads for their lives.

An Iraqi insurgent group threatened in the videotape posted Saturday on the Internet to kill the two German citizens within 10 days unless their government withdraws its forces from Afghanistan.

The tape shows the woman, identified as Hannelore Maria Krause, sitting on the floor with eyes downcast next to her bearded adult son. Three masked insurgents also are shown, two of them pointing guns at the hostages’ heads.

Krause first addresses German Chancellor Angela Merkel: “Please help us,” she says, speaking in German as an Arabic translation scrolls over the screen. “These people want to kill my son before my eyes, and then me, if the German troops do not withdraw from Afghanistan.”

She then appeals to the German public to press the government to meet the insurgents’ demands.

“Don’t keep us here, I beg you,” she says. “I am afraid.”

A gunman, who identifies himself as a member of the previously unknown Brigades of the Arrows of Righteousness, demands that the German government comply, “otherwise you will not even see the dead bodies of the two agents.”

A close-up of Krause’s German passport also is shown.

Details of the abduction remain sketchy, and the authenticity of the video could not be independently confirmed.

The German government confirmed last month that the two hostages disappeared Feb. 6, but released no other details. German newspapers have reported that Krause, 61, is married to an Iraqi physician and has been living in Iraq for more than 20 years. Her son’s name and age have not been released.

Germany opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and has no troops stationed here. However, it contributes to the NATO-led force in Afghanistan.

The footage was posted the day after the German parliament agreed to send an additional 500 troops to Afghanistan, bringing the country’s total contribution to 3,650. Six Tornado jets also will be sent for reconnaissance missions.

The German Foreign Ministry has set up a crisis committee to deal with the abduction.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters the video was a “devastating document” and said Berlin would do everything possible to secure the hostages’ release, wire services reported.