Japan won&#39;t leave Iraq over hostage
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Japan insisted on Wednesday that it would not bow to the demands of Islamic militants in Iraq who threatened to behead a young Japanese drifter unless Tokyo pulled its troops from the country within 48 hours.
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TOKYO, Japan -- Japan plans to keep its troops in Iraq beyond the original withdrawal date of December 14 this year, according to Japanese media reports Tuesday.
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Japan scrambled Wednesday to win the release a 24-year old Japanese man taken hostage by Islamic militants in Iraq, dispatching high level diplomats to the middle east and launching an appeal for his freedom on Arabic television.
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Japan's government said it was trying to confirm news reports that the Islamic militant group of Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi had taken a Japanese citizen hostage in Iraq and threatened to behead him.
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Japan sought international help on  Thursday for a Japanese man held hostage in Iraq, with less  than 24 hours to go for a deadline set by his captors to behead  him unless Tokyo withdraws its troops.
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Japan won&#39;t yield to terrorism or withdraw its troops from Iraq, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said, in response to reports an Iraqi group kidnapped a Japanese man.
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AMMAN, Jordan -- A top diplomat from Tokyo met with Jordanian and Iraqi officials in Amman on Thursday in the hope of obtaining the release of a Japanese hostage held in Iraq, hours before a deadline for his killing expires.
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Earlier Tuesday Japan&#39;s Justice Ministry rejected his demand to stay in the country, saying no justification had been found to grant him protection as a political refugee.
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BAGHDAD: A body found in Iraq cannot be confirmed as that of a young Japanese man taken hostage and the corpse has been sent to Qatar for identification, Japan&#39;s Senior Vice Foreign Minister Shuzen Tanigawa said yesterday.
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By Natalie Obiko Pearson, Associated Press, 10/30/2004 01:52. TOKYO  A body resembling a Japanese hostage held by Islamic militants has been found in Iraq, the government announced Saturday, and officials
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A body resembling a Japanese hostage has  been found in Iraq and is being shipped to Qatar for  identification, Japanese officials said on Saturday, after  Tokyo refused a demand by his captors to pull out its troops.
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The Islamic militant group of Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi reportedly claims to have taken a Japanese citizen hostage in Iraq. In a video shown on the Internet, the group threatens to execute him if Tokyo does not withdraw its troops from Iraq in 48 hours.
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A body resembling a Japanese hostage has been found in Iraq and is being shipped to Qatar for identification, Japanese officials said on Saturday, after Tokyo refused a demand by his captors to pull out its troops.
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Japan sought international and Iraqi help  for a Japanese man held hostage in Iraq on Thursday, less than  24 hours before a deadline set by his captors to behead him  unless Japan withdraws its troops.
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Al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's militant group threatened to behead a Japanese hostage it said worked with Japan's forces in Iraq if Tokyo did not withdraw its troops from the country within 48 hours.
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Japanese leaders struggled on Thursday to make contact with Islamic militants in Iraq who took a Japanese traveler hostage as the 48-hour deadline approached for the young man's threatened beheading. Tokyo stood firm in its refusal to meet the kidnappers' demand to withdraw troops from Iraq.
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TOKYO : Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has vowed not to pull out its troops in Iraq, despite reports that another of its national has been taken hostage.