Hostages want to stay in Iraq

2004-04-16 11:20

Tokyo - Two of the three Japanese hostages released in Iraq said they want to stay in the troubled nation, prompting disbelief and exasperation among relatives and politicians on Friday.

Moments after she was released by a militant group, volunteer worker Nahoko Takato, 34, said on the Arab satellite television station Al-Jazeera that she wanted to continue her volunteer work in Iraq.

Another released hostage, photojournalist Soichiro Koriyama, 32, told his family he wished to stay to document the war-torn nation, relatives told reporters.

"I will continue (my work in Iraq)," Takato said in an interview conducted shortly after she was released.

"(The kidnappers) did things to me that I did not like. But I cannot hate the Iraqi people," she said, wiping away tears.

In the same Al-Jazeera footage, released in Japan on Friday, Koriyama was seen smiling, snapping photos of Takato and the other released hostage Noriaki Imai, 18, and telling them: "My job is to shoot (pictures)."

Koriyama's mother Kimiko said he told her on the phone he wanted to remain in Iraq to continue taking pictures.

'What a foolish son you are'

"I told him, 'What a foolish son you are'," Kimiko told reporters at her home in southern Japan.

"I don't think he realises how much trouble he has caused," she said.

Takato's brother Shuichi also said he told Nahoko to realise the gravity of the situation.

"I want her to rest up and be able to rationally understand the entire ordeal," Shuichi said.

It was not immediately clear whether Imai felt the same way as Takato and Kariyama.

The comments from Takato and Kariyama triggered exasperation among Japanese leaders, including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who faced the worst crisis of his administration as Tokyo worked intensely for their release.

"How can they say so after going through all the suffering and making so many people work for them day and night?" he said.

- AFP