Body of beheaded Japanese hostage found

3.00pm

TOKYO - The Japanese government says it has confirmed the headless body of an Asian man found in Baghdad is that of a Japanese hostage whose captors had threatened to kill him if Japan did not pull its troops from Iraq.

"Unfortunately, we have just confirmed that the body is that of Shosei Koda," Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura told a news conference on Sunday.

Al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's militant group said in an internet video on Wednesday it would behead Koda, 24, within 48 hours if Japan did not withdraw its troops.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq