Captors threaten to execute Japanese hostage in Iraq: mediator
DOHA (AFP) - The captors of three Japanese civilians have threatened to kill one of them within 24 hours if Tokyo does not pull its troops out of Iraq (news - web sites), a self-described Iraqi mediator told Al-Jazeera satellite channel, citing a statement by "the Iraqi resistance."
The captors are "giving the Japanese government a 24-hour ultimatum, not open to extension, after which they will execute a first" hostage, said Mezher al-Delaimi, who was identified as head of the League for the Defense of Iraqis' Rights.
"The death sentence will be applied to the others 12 hours later" unless Tokyo meets a number of conditions, chiefly to pull its troops out of Iraq, Delaimi said.
A diplomat at the Japanese embassy in Amman questioned about the statement told AFP, "We are still to confirm this report".
He declined to comment on the status of Delaimi.
The "Iraqi resistance" is demanding that the Japanese government "spell out its official position on the Iraqi people's cause, apologize to the Iraqis and withdraw Japanese troops from Iraqi territory," the self-styled mediator said.
He said resistance fighters also wanted Japanese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Ichiro Aisawa, now in Amman as Tokyo's point-man for the crisis, to visit the rebel town of Fallujah west of Baghdad to "see the massacres perpetrated by US forces" there.
The whereabouts and condition of the three Japanese hostages remained unknown on Sunday despite reports suggesting their release was imminent.
A Japanese foreign ministry official said in Tokyo that the government
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