Headless body found in Iraq

11.30am

BAGHDAD - Iraqi police found the headless body of an Asian man in Baghdad that Iraq's Interior Ministry said could be that of a kidnapped Japanese backpacker.

"There is a possibility that this is the body of the Japanese hostage, but it has yet to be identified," a ministry spokesman said.

Japan's Foreign Ministry said it was looking into the report. "We are trying to find out the facts," an official said.

Confusion has surrounded the fate of Shosei Koda since Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's militant group said on Tuesday it would behead the 24-year-old within 48 hours unless Japan pulled its troops out of Iraq, a demand swiftly rejected by Japan.

A beheaded body found in Iraq on Friday was initially thought to be that of Koda, abducted while on holiday, but was later identified as an Iraqi man.

Another corpse described as Asian-looking also turned out not be Koda's.

The Interior Ministry spokesman said the latest body, and the decapitated head, was found near a hospital in Baghdad.

At least 25 foreigners from a dozen countries, including two women, are thought to be in the hands of kidnappers trying to drive US-led forces and foreign workers from Iraq. Scores of foreigners have been abducted since April.

Many have been freed but more than 35 have been killed, several of them beheaded.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq