Japanese hostage 'may be dead'
2005-05-12 17:05
London - A Japanese security guard, allegedly kidnapped by Islamic militants after an ambush in Iraq, may have actually died from his wounds instead, said his London-based employer Hart Security on Wednesday.
The British company said: "We have not given up hope that Akihiko Saito may still be alive."
It said: "However, an eyewitness report indicates that wounds he had at the time may have proved fatal."
An al-Qaeda-linked group, Ansar al-Sunna, claimed that it captured the 44-year-old military veteran on Sunday after an attack on a civilian convoy, near the restive city of Ramadi, Baghdad, that killed at least 10 people.
No further information had emerged, however, and the Japanese government, which had broken post-World War 2 taboos by sending troops to Iraq, said it remained in the dark about Saito's fate.
Improvised explosive devices
Hart Security said it was unaware of any other photographs or evidence to back up the claims by the militants that they were holding Saito.
It said: "The ambush was complex and well planned, incorporating the use of multiple improvised explosive devices, rocket propelled grenades, machine gun fire and small arms fire."
Saito, a Tokyo native, served in Japan's army for two years until 1981 before spending more than 20 years with the French Foreign Legion.
He had no known links to Japanese forces in Iraq.