Al-Jazeera TV - 3 Japanese being held hostage in Iraq.

[alcuno]

A "newsflash" on MSNBC. I thought the Japanese were being kept away from the Iraqis?

[Name removed]

Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[spinbaby]

9. Close

They were running some kind of a water-purifcation project in the protected south.

[democracyindanger]

29. So wrong

That joke is so horribly, terribly, heartbreakingly wrong.

[Nlighten1]

1. Uh oh

Will the Japanese people begin to demand their troops be brought home?

[Cooley Hurd]

3. IIRC, the Japanese were extremely reluctant to send troops...

...to Iraq to begin with. This won't go over well with the Japanese people at all.

[Nlighten1]

26. Wasn't there a fight?

I seem to remember someone posting a picture of the elected officials in Japan fist-fighting over this. Or was it something else?

[Zech Marquis]

2. my gf told me about this 20 minutes ago

she found it on Yahoo and was crying about it. But so far there's no details on who these 3 Japanese are--civilian, or...Jietai. In either case, if they're killed, Koizumi's goose is cooked.

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. I expect if the Iraqis have any smarts

we will be seeing a lot more of this sort of thing. Hostages are such a great negotiating tool? And what better way to get coalition countries to pull out their troops?

Hey Rummie, what was that you said yesterday about being in control?

[leftchick]

15. rummy says they are just thugs, losers, deadenders....

So we don't need to worry.... :puke:

[Zech Marquis]

5. update from Yomiuri

the 3 Japanese have been Id'ed by their passports. The Japanese Cabinet is holding an emergency meeting as we speak...Koizumi, pack your bags buddy. Oh, and 8 Koreans were also kidnapped :scared:

[trumad]

6. Koreans are "Rock Soldiers"

and they are some of the best soldiers in the world.... Wooooh

[Superfly]

17. That would be ROK

as in Repubic of Korea

[trumad]

22. Airborne...

Thanks

[chenGOD]

37. Except of course the Korean who were kidnapped were not soldiers

but missionaries.
As you know from reading the posts here on DU. ;)

[Andrushka]

7. Yep

Koizumi will be having a sleepless night tonight. Good. He'd better think long and hard about the repercussions of all this. The Japanese public will not stand for images of dead Japanese come next Sunday.

With the SDF holed-up in their onsen(spa)-equipped camp and not going out on patrol these past few days, I am not surprised that this happened to 'soft' Japanese targets. I hope these there are not harmed; one of them was there to help homeless kids in Baghdad.

Andrushka in Kawasaki, Japan

[Chovexani]

23. Welcome to DU!

Welcome to DU! :hi:

I hope the hostages make it out ok, too. This whole situation just gets worse and worse, and that pit in my stomach tells me this is just the beginning. :(

[newyawker99]

28. Hi Andrushka!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Oggy]

8. More hostages being reported by Reuters

Including a British "contractor".

<snip>
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A British civilian has been kidnapped in the southern Iraqi town of Nassiriya, the scene of heavy fighting between radical Shi'ite militiamen and Iraqi troops, a coalition official says.
<snip>
Meanwhile Seven South Korean members of a church group have been detained by an armed group in Iraq, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
<snip>

<more>
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=I0YC405CHR55OCRBAE0CFEY?type=topNews&storyID=491006§ion=news

On edit: can anyone help me with this link?

[alcuno]

10. They said the other day that foreigners were being told to stay

in their compounds. A church group? What is going on over there?

[Florida_Geek]

11. did not work GGGGrrr

..

[Judi Lynn]

18. I'll try it......

Here's that ~~~~ link ~~~~

I think this will work. :hi:

[DeepModem Mom]

12. The Japanese are civilians, 2 journalists and an aid worker

1:32pm (UK)
Iraqis Threaten to Kill Japanese Hostages

Three Japanese have been taken hostage by Iraqi rebels who have threatened to kill them if Tokyo does not withdraw its troops from the country

Video of the captured three – two men and a woman – were shown on the the Arab satellite television station Al-Jazeera.

Two were said be be journalists, the third an aid worker....

***

Al Jazeera aired a video showing three Japanese, including one woman, dressed in civilian clothes.

A video message purportedly from the kidnappers showed three Japanese passports.

A message from the insurgents, who called themselves The Mujahadeen Brigades, threatened to kill the three unless Japanese forces withdraw from the country in three days....


http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2755336

[alcuno]

13. Thanks for the details.

[Art_from_Ark]

14. Not just kill them

According to Japanese radio, the kidnappers threatened to burn the abductees alive if the SDF was not pulled out.

One of the abductees had just graduated from high school.

The woman had apparently just entered Iraq from Jordan to work with Iraqi street children.

[alcuno]

16. grill them.

Sorry. I could not stop myself.

On edit: I'm praying for all these people but there is so much irony here; before the invasion they said they would do this kind of thing.

[Art_from_Ark]

20. The ironic thing is, these abductees were actually there to help

They had no weapons, they did not seek to profit at the expense of the Iraqis, they wanted to help, as civilians. They got trapped in this mess because, in the words of their abductors, "Their government is working with the invading government." And they were easy targets.

[Chovexani]

24. Horrific.

This is just too sick for words. Not that anyone deserves it, but it seems like these things always happen to the good folks.

My thoughts and prayers are with the hostages and their families. Too bad this will get little coverage in our whore press because the hostages aren't Americans.

[Art_from_Ark]

32. No coverage in the US maybe, but it's front page in Japan

Today's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper's front page, for example, carried a very large and somber headline "Three Japanese Taken Hostage in Iraq" against a black background. The TV networks have been running the story for several hours. It's shaping up to be a major crisis here in Japan.

[Barrett808]

19. Photo of the victims

Japanese civilian detainees sit at an undisclosed location in this image made from video released Thursday, April 8, 2004. Two Japanese men and a woman were kidnapped in Iraq (news - web sites) by a group identifiying itself as the 'Mujahedeen Brigades,' which gave Japan the ultimatum of removing their forces from Iraq or they would burn the hostages alive. (AP Photo/APTN)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040408/481/lon82204081416&e=6&ncid=

[madrchsod]

21. the whole iraqi war is spinning

into anarchy and george is at his ranch. not in the white house where he is supposed to be. the ranch is a good place to hide from japan`s and korea`s ambassadors. it`s a good place to hide from the american people.

[VolcanoJen]

25. Iraqis threaten to burn Japanese prisoners alive - AP Article

What a lovely, lovely little war. :grr:

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4711867.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Eight South Koreans and three Japanese were kidnapped by insurgents in Iraq, and captors armed with automatic rifles and swords threatened today to burn the Japanese alive if Tokyo did not withdraw from the U.S.-led coalition.

The Arabic TV station Al-Jazeera, broadcasting to Iraq and the rest of the Arab world, showed portions of a tape from a previously unknown group calling itself the ``Mujahedeen Squadrons'' showing the Japanese blindfolded and surrounded by gunmen. It also shows their passports.

[markus]

27. While Chenney is in Asia!! (Just noticed this)

I don't think this is a coincidence. Somebody had the brains to figure out this would be a good thing to do right now.

[sspiderjohn]

30. Poor kids look so scared -- and they'll be burned alive!

nt

[Digit]

33. Saw it on PBS

I can't even imagine the terror these kids must be experiencing.
My prayers go out to them and their families.

[Just Me]

31. Help me,...

,...the trolls are overwhelming.

http://www.iraqvoice.com/

[sixtoes1]

34. I am extremely disappointed. Must I be the first to actually

condemn the perpetrators of this act? They're going to burn human beings alive!! Volunteers for needy children of IRAQ!!! Yes, I support an end to this. But as we're leaving, we need to kill every last one of those stinkin heartless bastards. FUCK!!!!!

[ktranz]

35. yes

we need to kill every stinking anti-American scums!!! Those heartless bastards!!!! Why can't they just act nice once in a while?!? We're occupiers demand respect!@!

[nodehopper]

36. there's a difference between

wartime casualties and burning alive aid workers.

[thebigidea]

38. not if you're Donald Rumsfeld

in which case, these things are "deeply regrettable."

"Will more people die? You bet!"