Ananova:

A former solider has opened a traditional German restaurant in war-torn Iraq.

Gunter Voelker's restaurant features sausages, schnitzel, sauerkraut and beer - and thigh-slapping folk music.

Voelker, 42, from Thueringen, Germany, opened the restaurant in northern Iraq following the kidnapping of two German engineers.

He said the German foreign ministry's warnings for German citizens to stay out of Iraq were "grossly exaggerated".

Voelker, who served in the Balkans and Afghanistan, said: "Parts of Berlin are more dangerous than Iraq."