Japan insisted yesterday it would not bow to the demands of Islamic militants in Iraq who threatened to behead a young Japanese unless Tokyo withdraws its troops from the country within 48 hours.
"The Self-Defense Forces will not withdraw," Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, a staunch US ally, said as he went ahead with a tour of typhoon damage in western Japan. "We must not bow to terrorism."
The al-Qaeda-linked group of Iraq's most wanted man Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi released a video overnight on the Internet of a shaggy-haired Japanese-speaking man in a white T-shirt, at the feet of three armed and masked men.
"We are giving the Japanese government 48 hours in which to withdraw its troops from Iraq, otherwise this infidel will join the others [executed]," a militant said in the video.
Among the others, the militant mentioned the American Nicholas Berg and Briton Kenneth Bigley, who were both decapitated.
The Japanese man said on the video: "Koizumi, they demand the Japanese government withdraw the Japanese Self-Defense Forces from Iraq or they will chop off my head.
"I'm sorry, but I want to come back to Japan," he said unemotionally in Japanese.
Japan identified the hostage as Shosei Koda, a 24-year-old from southern Fukuoka province who "has been wandering around many countries," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda, the government spokesman.
Koda had been in New Zealand on a working holiday until July but had not been in contact since, his father said, according to the foreign ministry.
The incident marked the second hostage crisis faced by Koizumi, a close supporter of US President George W. Bush, since his historic decision to deploy troops to Iraq despite widespread domestic opposition.
In April militants kidnapped three Japanese aid workers and two journalists in Iraq but they were released unharmed after days of mediation.
Ambushes by Iraqi insurgents killed two Japanese diplomats last year and two Japanese journalists in May.
Koizumi told parliament late yesterday that Japan's involvement in Iraq to help with humanitarian and reconstruction work was "understood by the general public in Iraq.
"Regardless of this, captors are trying to remove the Self-Defense Forces from the country by taking Mr Koda hostage," Koizumi said.
The military deployment to Iraq is Japan's first since World War II to a country where fighting is going on.
Katsuya Okada, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, who has criticized the dispatch as a violation of the pacifist constitution, said there is "no reason to listen to the kidnappers' demands."
However, some 120 peace activists protested outside parliament demanding Japan withdraw its troops.
Documentary filmmaker Hiroshi Shinomiya told public broadcasterNHK he met Koda at a hotel in the Jordanian capital Amman on Oct. 19. Koda told him he would take a public bus the next day to Iraq "simply because he wanted to see it."
"I told him he should not go, but he replied saying, 'No, I'll be just fine,'" Shinomiya said.
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
SAFETY FIRST: Double the number of police were deployed at the Taipei Marathon, while other cities released plans to bolster public event safety Authorities across Taiwan have stepped up security measures ahead of Christmas and New Year events, following a knife and smoke bomb attack in Taipei on Friday that left four people dead and 11 injured. In a bid to prevent potential copycat incidents, police deployments have been expanded for large gatherings, transport hubs, and other crowded public spaces, according to official statements from police and city authorities. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city has “comprehensively raised security readiness” in crowded areas, increased police deployments with armed officers, and intensified patrols during weekends and nighttime hours. For large-scale events, security checkpoints and explosives
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
RSS