Update on Hostages in Iraq

Japanese man taken hostage

Baghdad - A Japanese national was kidnapped in Iraq after his convoy was ambushed at night and a firefight, lasting several hours, broke out.

"There were casualties, both wounded and dead" among those travelling with the convoy, a US officer told AFP.

Tokyo native Akihito Saito, who was working as a consultant for the British security firm Hart, is believed to have been taken hostage by Islamic militants during the ambush overnight on Sunday to Monday, near the town of Hit, some 150km northwest of Baghdad.

Al-Qaeda-linked group Ansar al-Sunna released identity card copies giving the Japanese hostage's name and said he had been captured during a "fierce battle" in western Iraq.

A convoy of several cars was ambushed after leaving a US base, the Japanese foreign ministry said.

"Some of the cars managed to get away and some were stuck," a diplomatic source said here.

"It was quite messy" with a firefight going on for several hours overnight before US forces arrived on the scene in the morning, the source added.

It was not immediately known how many people were killed or wounded, but the Japanese foreign ministry said Saito was seriously wounded and a number of other foreigners killed.

Yesterday, the public broadcaster NHK reported, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who visited Moscow for World War II anniversary ceremonies, had been informed of the kidnapping.

In a statement posted on an Islamist website on Monday, an al-Qaeda-linked militant group said it had seized a Japanese hostage during a "fierce battle" in western Iraq.

...Japanese forces were on a historic mission to Iraq as it was the first time since World War II that Tokyo had deployed the military to a country where there was active fighting.

The Japanese forces had suffered no casualties, although in October an al-Qaeda-linked group kidnapped and beheaded a 24-year-old Japanese backpacker, Shosei Koda.

According to Zaman Daily News:

The Japanese government has informed that the kidnapping of a Japanese citizen in Iraq will not have any influence over maintaining Japanese troops in this country.

Japan Minister of Defense Yoshinori Ono has said, "The incident will not affect the activities of the 550 Japanese soldiers who are stationed in the city of Samava for humanitarian purposes."

Japan Foreign Ministry officials on the other hand have formed a special squad has been deployed to attempt to rescue the abducted Japanese national.


Meanwhile, efforts are underway to achieve the release of the 63-year-old Australian engineer, Douglas Wood.
Iraqis' information could help Wood

The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, said American, Iraqi and British forces are speaking to people in Iraq with information that could help free Douglas Wood but that he would not provide further details for security reasons.

...By late yesterday there was no response from Mr Wood's captors following the expiry of the 72-hour ultimatum they had set for Australia to announce plans to withdraw its troops from Iraq.

On Monday, Australian Muslim leader Sheik Taj el-Din al Hilaly traveled to Baghdad to aid in Wood's rescue.

Sheik Hilaly, who is carrying an offer by the Wood family of a "generous" donation to the people of Iraq to be spent according to the wishes of Mr Wood's captors, said before leaving Sydney that he would work through the Organisation of Islamic Scholars, a high-profile organisation that represents Sunni mosques.

Mr Downer and the Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, voiced their support of the Wood family's cash offer to an Iraqi charity to assist in winning Mr Wood's freedom. Mr Downer had earlier insisted the Government would not pay a ransom for Mr Wood's release but yesterday the Foreign Minister said the family was not paying a ransom, only putting some money into a charity. "We don't have any problem with that," he said.

The Defence Minister, Robert Hill, expressed his sympathy for Mr Wood in the Senate. But he offered the kidnappers no indication that their demand for the removal of troops, reaffirming the Government's military commitment there including training Iraqi security forces and securing the province of Al Muthanna.

In addition to Akihito Saito and Douglas Wood, Jeffrey Ake, the LaPorte, Indiana man abducted on April 11, has not been released by his Iraqi militant captors. No new information regarding Ake's fate has surfaced.

Whether it's Japanese, Australian, or American officials, the standard response to these abductions is that the coalition governments will not officially negotiate with terrorists.

However, it's clear that all possible tactics, such as the Wood family's "generous" cash offer to an Iraqi charity in order to secure Wood's release, are being employed.

In effect, we are negotiating with terrorists in these hostage situations. Although such actions do play into the hands of the evil, cowardly kidnappers that prey on innocent civilians working to help the Iraqi people, I can't criticize these efforts.

On an abstract level, it's easy to say that we can't give into the demands of terrorists. However, if I had a family member being held hostage, I would do anything to get my loved one freed.