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Japanese hostage confirmed dead in Iraq
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-31 10:28
A decapitated body wrapped in an American flag and found in an
insurgent-controlled section of Baghdad was that of a Japanese man kidnapped by
Islamic militants, a Japanese official said Sunday.
Japan's Foreign
Ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima, center, is surrounded by reporters
after a press conference regarding the case of Japanese traveler Shosei
Koda taken hostage by Islamic militants in Iraq, at the foreign ministry
in Tokyo, Japan, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2004. Japanese leaders investigated
reports early Sunday, that the decapitated body of what appeared to be an
Asian man had been found in Iraq amid fears that militants may have killed
Koda. [Reuters] |
Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said in Tokyo that the government
confirmed that the body found Saturday was that of Shosei Koda, 24.
This undated photo
shows Shosei Koda, a 24-year-old man from Fukuoka, southern Japan, being
held hostage in Iraq. [Reuters] | An
al-Qaida-linked group led by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi showed
Koda, a backpacker, on a video posted on a militant Web site Tuesday.
The group vowed to behead Koda within 48 hours unless Japan withdrew its
troops from Iraq. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi quickly rejected that demand,
saying he would not give in to terrorists.
Japanese Embassy officials in Baghdad sent fingerprints of the body to the
Foreign Ministry in Tokyo, and police experts there positively identified the
body as Koda's, Machimura said.
"It is to our great sorrow that after putting all our efforts into securing
his release he has become a victim of terrorism," Machimura said.
"We cannot allow this kind of action. Japan, in cooperation with the
international community ... must continue the battle against terrorism."
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