hostage-taker

[Barnhart]

I've heard a lot about "hostage-takers" recently.  It's reminiscent of
"evil-doer."

In Google News I found:

hostage-taker ....    832
hostage-takers .. 7,230
hostage-taking ... 8,540

Not so long ago I worked up an entry for genocidaire.  A quick scanning of
Google News en francais suggests that the French use "le prise d'otages."
This is hardly as elegant (if I may be allowed a judgmental expression) as
genocidaire, meaning one who attempts genocide.

Do German (die Geisel), Russian (zalbzhik??), Spanish (el rehen), Hebrew
(..) or any other languages have a more morphologically satisfying term
for hostage-taker (-ing)?

Regards,
David

barnhart at highlands.com