Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi vowed yesterday that Japanese troops would continue their domestically unpopular mission in Iraq after Islamic militants demanding a pullout killed a 24-year-old Japanese tourist.
A head and a decapitated body with bound hands and feet were found wrapped in a US flag on Saturday behind a hospital on Baghdad's Haifa Street, a stronghold of Iraq's most wanted man Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi.
Fingerprint samples were sent to Tokyo and matched those of Shosei Koda, a naive traveller who took a public bus to Baghdad and was an easy target for kidnappers.
"It is our utmost regret that Mr. Shosei Koda fell victim to terrorism although the Japanese government made every possible effort to rescue the hostage," Koizumi said. "I offer my sincere condolences to his family."
Koda is the fifth Japanese to die in Iraq since the US-led war in the country, of which Koizumi was a vocal supporter. Two diplomats and two journalists were killed in gun attacks.
"Our country in cooperation with the international community will carry out humanitarian and rehabilitation assistance by the Self-Defense Forces for the sake of the people of Iraq and continue resolutely to fight against terrorism," Koizumi said.
The military, known as the Self-Defense Forces as Japan's Constitution rejects the use of force, is on its first deployment since World War II to an area of active fighting, although it is on a non-combat reconstruction mission.
An Asahi Shimbun poll, published a day before Koda's kidnapping was announced by an Islamist Web site, found that 63 percent of Japanese oppose keeping troops in Iraq after their mission expires on Dec. 14.
The opposition pledged after Koda's killing to fight against any extension of the mission.
"If the Self-Defense Forces had not been dispatched, this never would have happened," said main opposition leader Katsuya Okada of the Democratic Party of Japan. "I want to strongly request a withdrawal."
Mizuho Fukushima, leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party, criticized Koizumi for immediately rejecting the kidnappers' demands to withdraw troops, saying the prime minister "did not even allow for negotiations" on Koda's release.
After days of mediation in April Japan was able to secure the release of three Japanese aid workers and two journalists kidnapped in Iraq. The hostages, on returning to Japan, apologized for putting the nation on edge.
Similarly, the parents of Koda Sunday released a statement of apology "for causing anxiety to the many people who supported us."
"We pray for peace for the Iraqi people as soon as possible," the statement said.
Koda reportedly went to Baghdad out of curiosity and was refused entry at budget hotels that feared the security risks of a foreign guest.
Failing to get on a return bus to Jordan, he hopped into a waiting car offered by young men who spoke English.
The next time Koda was seen was at the feet of three armed, masked men under a banner of Zarqawi, a Jordanian-born militant who has pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden.
In a T-shirt and unkempt hair, Koda calmly told Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on a video Tuesday that if he did not withdraw Japan's troops within 48 hours "they will chop off my head."
Majid Hadi, a Baghdad police officer on the patrol that made the grisly discovery of Koda's remains, said the body was decapitated and also had two bullet wounds.
Around 550 Japanese troops are based in the southern Iraqi city of Samawa.
But Japan otherwise has a limited presence in Iraq and was dependent during the hostage crisis on US forces and the interim Iraqi government, to which Tokyo is a major donor.
US Ambassador to Japan Howard Baker called Koda's killing a "heinous crime."
"We strongly support the government of Japan's rejection of terrorist demands," he said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued a sea alert for Typhoon Fung-wong (鳳凰) as it threatened vessels operating in waters off the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), the Bashi Channel and south of the Taiwan Strait. A land alert is expected to be announced some time between late last night and early this morning, the CWA said. As of press time last night, Taoyuan, as well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties had declared today a typhoon day, canceling work and classes. Except for a few select districts in Taipei and New Taipei City, all other areas and city
VIOLATION OF NORMS: China’s CCTV broadcast claimed that Beijing could use Interpol to issue arrest warrants, which the MAC slammed as an affront to order The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for attempts to intimidate Taiwanese through “transnational repression.” The council issued the remarks after state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) yesterday during a news broadcast aired a video targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), threatening him with “cross-border repression” and saying: “Stop now, or you will be next,” in what Taipei officials said was an attempt to intimidate not only Shen, but also the broader Taiwanese public. The MAC in a statement condemned the threat, accusing Beijing of trying to instill fear and self-censorship among Taiwanese and
RSS