Hostages face new death threats
2004-04-11 19:56
Tokyo - The whereabouts and condition of three Japanese hostages held in Iraq was still unknown on Sunday as their distraught relatives remained on tenterhooks amid new reports of their imminent execution.
As earlier claims of a Sunday release failed to materialise, a self-described Iraqi mediator said the civilians' captors would execute the first hostage within 24-hours if Tokyo does not begin pulling out its troops.
"The death sentence will be applied to the others 12 hours later" unless Japan meets a number of conditions, Mezher al-Delaimi - who was identified as head of the League of the Defence of Iraqis - told al-Jazeera television.
The "Iraqi resistance" is demanding that the Japanese government "spell out its official position on the Iraqi people's cause, apologise to the Iraqis and withdraw Japanese troops from Iraqi territory," he said.
He said resistance fighters also wanted Japanese
vice-minister for foreign affairs Ichiro Aisawa, now in Amman as Tokyo's point-man for the crisis, to visit the rebel town of Fallujah west of Baghdad to "see the massacres perpetrated by US forces" there.
A diplomat at the Japanese embassy in Amman questioned about the statement told AFP, "We are still to confirm this report".
On Thursday the kidnappers threatened to kill the captives if Japanese troops did not pull out of Iraq within three days, implying a deadline of 12:00 GMT on Sunday.
The three were seized while travelling overland from Amman to Baghdad. Disturbing video footage broadcast on Thursday showed them blindfolded and surrounded by knife-wielding captors.
Hopes were initially raised when al-Jazeera reported that the abductors, from the hitherto-unknown Mujahedeen Brigades, had decided to release the hostages on Sunday in response to a request by Muslim clerics.
Kyodo News agency, citing Japanese government sources, earlier said a senior Iraqi official had told Tokyo that the three would be released on Sunday at about noon Japanese time (03:00 GMT).
'Please help my son'
The hostages have been identified as volunteer workers Noriaki Imai, 18, and Nahoko Takato, 34, and 32-year-old photojournalist Soichiro Koriyama.
"We thought we would see the cheerful face of my son by noon, but we have not received any confirmation yet," Kimiko Koriyama, 55-year-old mother of the photojournalist, tearfully told reporters in Tokyo.
"Please help my son," she said.
Naoko Imai, 51, the mother of Noriaki Imai, said doubt was setting in over the release.
"I have been waiting for the release of my son since this morning, but we have yet to receive any confirmation. I wonder if my son can really return home."
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi telephoned her Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharazi on Sunday who promised Tehran's support in winning the hostages' release, according to the foreign ministry.
On Saturday Kawaguchi appealed directly for the release of the hostages, in a video message to their kidnappers. The foreign ministry said she also telephoned Syria's Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara and called for Damascus' support.
Protest
About 2 500 people staged a rally in front of Japan's parliament Sunday, demanding Tokyo's troops be pulled out of Iraq to save the hostages' lives.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has insisted Japan would not give in to the militants' threat and withdraw the troops from Iraq.
About 550 Japanese soldiers are deployed in the southern Iraqi city of Samawa for humanitarian work, a move that came despite bitter domestic protests from opponents claiming it violated the country's pacifist constitution.
US vice-president Dick Cheney arrived here on Saturday amid the crisis. He is due to hold talks with Koizumi on Monday and is expected to re-state the need for Japan to stay the course in Iraq.
Washington earlier welcomed Japan's decision to keep its troops in Iraq despite the threats, and said it was actively working with Tokyo to locate the Japanese hostages.