Japanese security worker reported seized in Iraq
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-10 18:38

TOKYO - An Islamic militant group said it was holding a badly wounded Japanese man after an ambush near a U.S. base in Iraq, but Japan's government said on Tuesday the incident would not affect its troop deployment in the country.

The group, called Army of Ansar al-Sunna, posted a picture on its Web site of a Japanese passport bearing the name Akihiko Saito and an identification card saying he was a security manager.

Japan's Foreign Ministry said a British security company that employs Saito, 44, as a consultant had reported him missing after a convoy of vehicles was ambushed in western Iraq.

Several people appeared to have been killed in the attack, the ministry said.

Saito served in the French Foreign Legion for more than 20 years, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima said.

Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said no demands had been received while Defense Minister Yoshinori Ohno said the incident would not affect the work of Japan's 550 non-combat troops in southern Iraq.

"Under present circumstances, it does not affect activities of the Self-Defense Forces in Samawa. The security there is not particularly worsening," a spokeswoman quoted Ohno as saying.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, a staunch ally of President Bush, has previously resisted demands by militants that Tokyo withdraw its troops from Iraq.

Koizumi returned in the afternoon from Russia, where he had attended ceremonies marking the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

The deployment -- Japan's biggest overseas military operation since World War II -- was unpopular. But several hostage incidents involving Japanese, including the beheading of a young backpacker, had little impact on Koizumi's support rates.

STRONGLY CONDEMNED

"We strongly condemn the act of violence and terrorism ... and we will make utmost efforts for obtaining his safe return," Takashima told reporters.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told a separate news conference that the Iraqi government had promised to do what it could.

Saito had been in Iraq since December but the Japanese government had not previously been aware of that fact nor had Saito been in touch with his family for many years, he added.

The Islamic militant group said it had seized the man identified as Saito after an ambush of vehicles coming from a U.S. base near Baghdad as the convoy approached the town of Hit in Iraq's Sunni Muslim western region.

"He has serious injuries and we will soon issue a video showing him," the group said.

The group claimed on the Web site to have captured 12 Iraqis and five foreigners in the ambush and to have killed all of them except Saito.

Six Japanese civilian hostages have been taken since the war began. Five were freed unharmed and one was beheaded.

Two Japanese diplomats and two Japanese freelance journalists have been killed.

Saito's younger brother said Japan should not withdraw its troops from Iraq in the wake of the incident.

"He had done that sort of work and knew the danger more than others who have been taken hostage," Hironobu Saito, often wiping tears from his eyes, told a news conference.

"So I say to the Japanese government, if you think the troops should be in Iraq, I support you."

Shortly after returning from a trip to Moscow, Koizumi heaped praise on the Japanese troops stationed in Iraq.

"Forging friendly relations with the local people there, the Self-Defense Forces are working diligently to help rebuild Iraq, and that is a precious job," Koizumi told reporters.

Japan's Kyodo news agency reported last week that the government was considering withdrawing its troops from Iraq in December, when the current mandate for their deployment expires.

Tokyo's stock market was little affected by the hostage reports, and some market participants said the incident was unlikely to affect the political scene.

"I don't think the news of a Japanese being kidnapped in Iraq will immediately affect Japanese politics," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC's equity planning and administration department.

Some foreign exchange traders in Tokyo said the yen dipped in early trade on the news while others said the impact was minimal.

Australia also faces a hostage crisis in Iraq.

Insurgents have seized Douglas Wood, a 63-year-old engineer, and demanded that Australian troops leave Iraq by Tuesday morning. The deadline passed with no word of his fate.

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