Three Japanese hostages freed, two more may be held

12.30am

Three Japanese civilians taken captive in Iraq exactly one week ago were freed on Thursday, prompting cries of joy from their families in Tokyo.

Arab TV broadcaster Al Jazeera showed video of the three - Noriaki Imai, 18, freelance journalist Soichiro Koriyama, 32, and aid worker Nahoko Takato, 34 - looking well in a meeting with a representative of the Muslim Cleric Association.

But the fate of two others whom media said had been kidnapped was unclear.

A Japanese foreign ministry official told Reuters that the three hostages had arrived safely at the Japanese embassy in Baghdad. Kyodo news agency said the government was considering sending a chartered plane to pick them up.

A tearful Takato, dressed in a red jacket, joined Imai and Koriyama in the meeting shown in the video, aired on Japanese public broadcaster NHK.

Exhausted but jubilant relatives of the three cried out in joy in Tokyo as the watched the video.

"It's true, it's true," they yelled, hugging and crying tears of joy. "It's wonderful," said another, shown on NHK.

"When I saw them alive on TV, I felt really happy," said Ayako Inoue, Nahoko's sister.

Japan has been on tenterhooks since last Thursday when an armed group took the three civilians hostage and threatened to kill them if Japan did not withdraw its troops from Iraq.

Prime minister Junichiro Koizumi - a staunch supporter of the United States in Iraq - has repeatedly said he will not pull out the 550 Japanese soldiers engaged in a reconstruction and humanitarian mission in Samawa, southern Iraq, despite the militants' threats.

Koizumi repeated that pledge earlier on Thursday - before the trio was released - despite the killing of an Italian hostage in Iraq and reports that two other Japanese had been captured.

"It's a despicable and cruel act that absolutely cannot be forgiven," Koizumi said of the killing of the Italian hostage.

"We must not give in to such unjust terrorism."

Japan's top government spokesman Yasuo Fukuda said earlier that authorities were trying to confirm media reports that a Japanese non-governmental organisation (NGO) had received an email saying two more Japanese had been kidnapped near Baghdad.

The two have been identified by Japanese media as freelance journalist Jumpei Yasuda, 30, who some reports said had been in Iraq before as a "human shield", and Nobutaka Watanabe, 36, a former member of the Japanese military with ties to a civic group.

Analysts have said Koizumi's handling of the hostage situation could affect the showing of his ruling coalition in by-elections for parliament's Lower House later this month and a poll for the Upper House in July.

"The fact that three have been freed is positive news for Koizumi," said Shigenori Okazaki, a political analyst at investment bank UBS in Tokyo. But he added: "Three have been freed, but we still don't know the fate of the other two.

Up to 40 foreigners from at least a dozen countries are being held hostage in Iraq, where US forces are locked in some of the fiercest fighting with Sunni and Shi'ite forces since the fall of Saddam Hussein a year ago.

The hostage crisis is also certain to affect debate over what role Japan - now testing the limits of its pacifist constitution - should play in global security matters.

The Japanese public is deeply divided over the deployment of troops to Iraq in what is Tokyo's riskiest military venture since World War 2 and is seen as a major step away from a purely defensive posture.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq