- TOKYO (AFP) -- The families
of three Japanese hostages in Iraq voiced anger and despair as the government
refused to pull its troops from the country as the deadline for their threatened
execution drew nearer.
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- Seven relatives of the three hostages, whom gunmen are
threatening to burn alive unless Japan pulls its troops out of Iraq within
three days, flew to Tokyo to plead with government officials in vain for
a military withdrawal.
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- Speaking to reporters for the first time since the worst
crisis of his three year administration began, Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi vowed Friday Japan would not withdraw troops from Iraq.
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- "We must not yield to terrorists' foul threats,"
he said.
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- "There is no plan" to withdraw troops from
Iraq, he said, adding the government would "do our utmost so that
they (kidnap victims) will be released immediately."
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- Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi met the relatives,
assuring them the government would strive to free the hostages, while stopping
short of responding directly to their request for a troop pull out.
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- The meeting followed the broadcast of harrowing television
footage showing the three Japanese in captivity, surrounded by masked militants
from a group calling themselves the "Mujahedeen Brigades".
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- "If my child was burned alive (as the kidnappers
threatened) ... I would not be able to bear it," Kimiko Koriyama,
mother of captive Soichiro Koriyama, a 32-year-old photojournalist, said
in a trembling voice.
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- Naoko Imai, the mother of another hostage, 18-year-old
and freelance writer Noriaki Imai, said a the hostage-takers' deadline
of 9:00 pm Japan time Sunday (1200 GMT) was fast approaching.
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- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's refusal to withdraw
the soldiers "leaves no hope for my son's survival," she said.
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- Japan has deployed some 550 troops to the southern Iraqi
city of Samawa for humanitarian work, despite widespread opposition on
the grounds the move violated the country's post-war pacifist constitution.
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- In Washington Thursday, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
welcomed Japan's resolve.
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- "Clearly, that is a good, sound decision and it's
appreciated," he said.
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- Analysts said Koizumi had no choice but to adopt a hardline
stance.
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- "If Japan gives into threats, both extremists and
international society will think Japan is soft on terrorism," said
Matake Kamiya, professor of security at the National Defence Academy. "Japan's
image as a nation state is at stake."
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- The relatives' pleas were echoed by some 600 people who
staged a demonstration in front of government and parliament buildings
calling for the immediate withdrawal of troops.
-
- The protestors carried banners reading: "Bring them
home now, Koizumi. Why don't you go to Iraq instead of the three hostages?"
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- But Japanese government officials said Japan had a little
ability to help the hostages, including 34-year-old volunteer worker Nahoko
Takato, who entered Iraq despite government advisories urging its nationals
to leave the country.
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- One of the foreign ministry's most senior diplomats flew
out in the early afternoon Jordan to handle the hostage crisis.
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- But with the clock ticking, the government admitted it
had made little progress so far in trying to secure the hostages' release.
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- "Unfortunately, we haven't been able to contact
them at the moment," said Fukuda. Another official said Japan welcomed
"any sort of assistance given by any country."
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- The only lead appeared to come from a South Korean pastor
who had also been held hostage for several hours Thursday before being
freed unharmed.
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- Huh Min-Young said by phone in a CBS radio interview
that he saw the three Japanese being held hostage by Iraqi militants.
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- "We were being held together with the three Japanese.
The insurgents threatened to burn them alive if their demand is not met
by Japan," he said.
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- The crisis contributed to a 1.6 percent decline in the
Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark Nikkei-225 index Friday, while the yen
weakened slightly against the dollar.
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- Japanese newspapers condemned the kidnapping with some
papers calling it the biggest crisis Koizumi's government has faced.
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- "The government is caught between honoring human
lives and continuing humanitarian work in Iraq," the Mainichi Shimbun
said.
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- The crisis looked set to overshadow US Vice President
Dick Cheney's upcoming trip to Japan, South Korea and China scheduled to
start in Tokyo late on Saturday.
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