Austrian's family holds out hope

The family of Austrian Bert Nussbaumer, kidnapped in Iraq along with four American colleagues working as private security guards, said yesterday they still have no definitive word on his fate.

"As long as there's no DNA match he's alive, not dead." said Maria Nussbaumer, 47, his mother.

"We always hope. We don't give up hope."

The FBI said this week it had identified the remains of four Americans recovered in Iraq and was testing to confirm the identity of a fifth victim. The kidnapped man's brother, Franz Nussbaumer, 25, said: "We don't have any news. We don't know any more than the American (family) members do. It's very difficult for us ... he's more than a brother to me. I want him back."

He said it could be two or three days before something definitive emerges from US officials. The two spoke to reporters at a motel where they were meeting with family members of the other contractors taken along with Nussbaumer in November 2006.

The meeting was planned before US officials began confirming that the other contractors are dead.

On Thursday the FBI confirmed the deaths of Paul Christopher Johnson-Reuben of Buffalo, Minnesota, and Joshua Mark Munns of Redding, California, both employed in Iraq by Crescent Security Group. It said the remains of a third victim were also recovered but not identified.

Earlier in the week the agency said it had recovered the remains of Ronald Withrow of Roaring Springs, Texas, who worked for JPI Worldwide, and John Roy Young of Kansas City, Missouri, who worked for Crescent.

On March 12thAustrian Foreign Ministry Secretary-General Johannes Kyrle told a news conference US authorities in Baghdad had informed Austria that DNA samples and a fingerprint found in Iraq were those of Nussbaumer, 26. All five were seized near Basra.