国产av不卡一区二区_欧美xxxx做受欧美_成年人看的毛片_亚洲第一天堂在线观看_亚洲午夜精品久久久中文影院av_8x8ⅹ国产精品一区二区二区_久久精品国产sm调教网站演员_亚洲av综合色区无码一二三区_成人免费激情视频_国产九九九视频

Two more Japanese reported kidnapped in Iraq
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-04-15 08:51

Two more Japanese civilians have been kidnapped in Iraq in addition to three taken hostage by militants last week, Japanese media said on Thursday, as the hostage crisis dragged on with little sign of resolution.

Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pauses during a debate with opposition leaders at parliament in Tokyo, April 14, 2004. Koizumi has insisted that he will not withdraw Japan's 550 troops from southern Iraq, where they are engaged in reconstruction work. [Reuters]

A Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman said the government was still trying to confirm the media reports, which said a Japanese non-governmental organization had received an e-mail saying two Japanese had been kidnapped near Baghdad.

The two were tentatively identified by Kyodo news agency as freelance journalists Jumpei Yasuda and Nobutaka Watanabe.

An Iraqi militant group took three Japanese civilians hostage last week and threatened to kill them if Japan did not withdraw its troops from Iraq.

Although the group later said the hostages would be released, their fate remains unknown.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has vowed not to pull out some 550 Japanese soldiers taking part in a non-combat mission in southern Iraq.

Analysts say his handling of the situation could affect the showing of his ruling coalition in Lower House by-elections later this month and a poll for parliament's Upper House in July.

The outcome is also certain to affect debate over what role Japan -- now testing the limits of its pacifist constitution -- should play in global security matters.

The three Japanese taken hostage last week are Noriaki Imai, 18, who wanted to look into the effects of depleted uranium weapons, freelance journalist Soichiro Koriyama, 32, and aid worker Nahoko Takato, 34.

Up to 40 foreigners from at least a dozen countries are being held hostage in Iraq, where U.S. forces are locked in some of the fiercest fighting with Sunni and Shi'ite forces since the fall of Saddam Hussein a year ago.

Italy said on Thursday that one of four captive Italians had been killed, but Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was quoted by Italian state TV as saying the killing would have no impact on Rome's refusal to withdraw from the U.S.-led force in Iraq.

Japan's public is deeply divided over the dispatch of troops to southern Iraq, where they carrying out reconstruction work.

The deployment is Tokyo's riskiest military mission since World War II and a major step away from a purely defensive military posture.

Close

Today's Top News     Top World News
Beijing slams Chen's 'independence push'         1 Italian hostage killed; 2 more Japanese held         Cheney: US-China relations in good shape         Chinese TV makers to appeal US tariffs         68 officials punished for deadly accidents         Bush endorses Sharon's plan on W. Bank	Two more Japanese reported kidnapped in Iraq       Bush endorses Sharon's plan on W. Bank       Fallujah truce shaken; Italian hostage killed       CIA chief: US lacks tools to combat al-Qaeda       Russia to evacuate citizens from Iraq       Japanese government goes quiet on hostage crisis