Families of Japanese kidnapped in Iraq plea for troops withdrawal

[Flagg]

Families of Japanese kidnapped in Iraq plea for troops withdrawal
35 minutes ago Add World - AFP to My Yahoo!



TOKYO (AFP) - The families of three Japanese nationals kidnapped in Iraq (news - web sites) and threatened with execution, tearfully begged the government to pull its troops out of the country as Tokyo reiterated there would be no withdrawal.




Seven relatives of the three hostages, whom gunmen are threatening to burn alive unless Japan pulls its troops out of Iraq within three days, flew to Tokyo to plead with government officials for a military withdrawal.


Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and other officials met them for about 50 minutes, assuring that the government would do its utmost to rescue them, while stopping short of responding directly to their request for a troop withdrawal.


The meeting followed the broadcast of harrowing television footage showing the three Japanese in captivity, surrounded by masked militants from a group calling themselves the "Mujahedeen Brigades".


"Please bring back the three unharmed. If circumstances allow, I ask (the government) to withdraw the Self-Defense Forces (military)," one family member was quoted by Jiji Press as telling Kawaguchi.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040409/wl_afp/iraq_japan_kidnap&cid=1512&ncid=1478

[Florida_Geek]

1. If these people are killed because

they do not pull out the troops, Bush gets another change of leadership in a country, the second that he did not plan on.

[Zech Marquis]

3. i those 3 are killed

* will have another budy to help him at the pigfarm

[usrbs]

2. If those people are burned alive this will hurt the image of Islam

every bit as much as it will hurt the Japanese government or Bush. In fact that act of barbarity might cause a backlash in the other direction. I don't understand why all of the Iraqi leaders, up to and including Sadr, are not pushing for those civilians' release.

[Florida_Geek]

4. while I would normally agree with you

you first must ask yourself, if the 200-300 civilians killed the day before there is not that a bigger act of barbarity and this fits * beliefs of an eye for an eye.

[nodehopper]

5. because they are not concerned with being seen as "civil"

just relentness.