Japanese and Korean civilians taken hostage in Iraq

[se0sea]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/...ing/index.html

[cb88]

CNN) -- Three Japanese citizens and seven South Korean civilians have been taken hostage in Iraq, where fighting between insurgents and coalition troops has escalated in recent days

Once again proving they have NO regard for the rules of engagement, the Geneva Convention or anything relating to the value of innocent life.

[kruser79]

Okay here we go....

The insurgents are getting desperate, and resorting to the one tactic that has seemed to be their favorite for decades now. The big difference now is that we have troops in their backyard.
Any of these agencies that are not coalition military are going to have to adopt the same policies that we've been using since we first entered the Balkans. You don't go out alone, no vehicle leaves a compound alone.
It makes things more difficult for the military operations if they have to send out search parties and raid houses looking for kidnapped civilians.
Don't get me wrong, most of the civilians are there for a great purpose, even the media folks. But these rectum heads don't wear uniforms, what makes anyone think that they aren't a target just because they aren't in BDU's or Cammies?

[AndJusticeForAll]

Sickening.

[se0sea]

A previously unknown group calling itself the Mujahedeen Squadrons

Could this be the Mujahedeen that was there before we invaded?That terror group that dressed all in black?If it is them,they WILL kill those hostages.

[cb88]

Originally Posted by se0sea

A previously unknown group calling itself the Mujahedeen Squadrons

Could this be the Mujahedeen that was there before we invaded?That terror group that dressed all in black?If it is them,they WILL kill those hostages.

Saying some prayers right now.

Those bastards already killed one missionary our church was supporting (and was a good friend of some of our members) and severely wounded the other.

When they start targetting civilians, they are committing acts of desperation.

[Hoss68]

Now they say they're going to burn them alive...

Iraqis threaten to burn Japanese prisoners alive

Associated Press April 8, 2004KIDNAP09

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Eight South Koreans and three Japanese were kidnapped by insurgents in Iraq, and captors armed with automatic rifles and swords threatened today to burn the Japanese alive if Tokyo did not withdraw from the U.S.-led coalition.

The Arabic TV station Al-Jazeera, broadcasting to Iraq and the rest of the Arab world, showed portions of a tape from a previously unknown group calling itself the ``Mujahedeen Squadrons'' showing the Japanese blindfolded and surrounded by gunmen. It also shows their passports.

Associated Press Television News obtained a copy of the full tape, which also shows four armed, masked men pointing knives and swords at the captives' chests and throats.

The South Koreans, believed to be Christian ministers who left for Iraq on April 5, were detained by unidentified ``armed men'' but one escaped, a Foreign Ministry official in Seoul told AP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The South Korean Yonhap News Agency identified them as: Huh Min Young, Lim Young Seok, Hong Gwang Cheon, Cho Jeong Kyon, Lee Myung Sook, Kim Pil Ja and Byun Kyong Ja. It said they were believed to be evangelists from the Christian Council of Korea.

The one who escaped, identified as Kim Sang Mi, told Korean news media that her group had been traveling in two cars on a highway from Amman, Jordan, and was stopped 155 miles west from the Iraq capital. ``Around one and half hours before our arrival in Baghdad, we were seized by strangers,'' she said.

She said armed men took them captive after checking their passports, suggesting the seizure might be connected to South Korea's plans to send 3,600 troops to Iraq.

The videotape, parts of which also were shown on Japan's NHK television, showed two Japanese men and a woman identified as two aid workers and a journalist.

On Al-Jazeera, an announcer read a statement that he said came with the video in which the kidnappers issue a three-day ultimatum for Japan to announce it will withdraw its troops from southern Iraq.

``Three of your sons have fallen into our hands,'' the Al-Jazeera announcer read. ``We offer you two choices: either pull out your forces, or we will burn them alive. We give you three days starting the day this tape is broadcast.''

The full video shows the Japanese crouched on the floor of a concrete walled room with an iron door. Four masked men dressed in black stand behind them holding automatic weapons and RPG launchers.

The gunmen make the Japanese lay one-by-one on the floor, and point swords and knives at their chests and throats. The woman's lips can be seen moving as if speaking.

The gunmen then show passports identifying the three as: Noriaki Imai, born 1985; Soichiro Koriyama, 32; Nahoko Takato, 34. They also show a press card for Koriyama from the weekly newspaper Asahi.

Japan has about 530 ground troops based in Samawah, part of a total planned deployment of 1,100 soldiers for a mission in Iraq to purify water and carry out other reconstruction tasks. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has been one of the strongest backers of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

About 460 South Korean medics and military engineers have been in Nasiriyah for almost a year. They are to come home after South Korea's planned deployment of up to 3,600 troops to the Kurdish region of northern Iraq later this year.

The kidnappings came amid escalating violence in Iraq. Earlier this week, two South Korean aid workers were briefly detained by Shiite Muslim forces during a gunbattle with Italian peacekeepers. They were released unharmed.