Al-Zarqawi group kidnaps one Japanese
Iraq, Local, 10/27/2004

The organization of "Qaida al-Jihad in the Mesopotamia" which is led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said it had kidnapped one member of the Japanese forces in Iraq and threatened to execute him if Tokyo will not withdraw its forces from Iraq within 48 hours.

According to a website on the Internet, one member in this group said in a video tape in which one Asian man appeared sitting under a black banner for the Organization, introduced as a hostage that "al-Jihad Qaida in the Mesopotamia kidnapped one member of the Japanese forces." He added " we give the Japanese government a grace period of 48 hours in order to withdraw its forces from Iraq, otherwise this "Kafer ( unbeliever) will join the others" of the westerners who were killed in Iraq.

The Japanese government formed a crisis cell with the aim of dealing with the question of its citizen on which al-Qaida Jihad at a time when the Japanese prime minister announced deliberate rejection of the demands raised by the kidnappers to withdraw the Japanese forces from Iraq.

The group which the US says that the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is led stressed that the kidnapped man is working within the Japanese forces which are working in southern Iraq. the group said that it found out that he entered Israel and then Jordan and from there into Iraq and promised to show documents proving that.

The Japanese media said that the hostage called "Ekio Koda( 24 year old) is from southern Japan but did not explain what he was doing in Iraq. For its part, the Japanese government denied any members of its forces to be missing in Iraq.

Previous Stories:
  Allawi refuses to abide by demands of the British hostage kidnappers   (10/23/2004)
  On the file of hostages in Iraq   (10/21/2004)
  More hostages being held   (10/19/2004)

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