Japan: Iraq withdrawal will take weeks
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Japan&#039;s withdrawal of some 600 ground troops from southern Iraq will take &quot;several dozen days,&quot; defense chief Fukushiro Nukaga said Tuesday.
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Video posted Tuesday on a militant Islamic Web site showed what it claimed was a Japanese captive kidnapped by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group and threatened to behead him within 48 hours unless Japan pulls its troops from Iraq. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi rejected the demand.
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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 Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi  reiterated on Wednesday that he wanted at some point to visit  Iraq, where Japanese troops are engaged in reconstruction work.
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Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced his plan Tuesday to withdraw troops from Iraq at a ruling party meeting, an official said, moving to end Japan&#039;s largest military mission since World War II.
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BAGHDAD - The 48-hour deadline set by a group of Islamic militants for Japan to agree to withdraw its troops from Iraq expired Thursday night, with the group threatening to behead a 24-year-old Japanese hostage if Tokyo ignores its demand.
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TOKYO - Japan insisted yesterday it would not bow to the demands of militants in Iraq who threatened to behead a young Japanese unless Tokyo pulls its troops from the country within 48 hours.
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A militant group in Iraq claims to be holding a Japanese citizen and gives Tokyo 48 hours to withdraw troops.
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Japan decided on Thursday to keep its  troops in Iraq for another year, Prime Minister Junichiro  Koizumi said, although most voters want them to come home from  the nation's riskiest military mission since World War II.
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Japan Wednesday refused to withdraw its forces from Iraq despite the threat by Islamic militants to execute a Japanese hostage if the troops remain.
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South Korea has delayed a decision on when to pull its 1,200 troops out of Iraq, the Defense Ministry said Thursday, raising the possibility that it could extend the unpopular mission for another year.
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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 is preparing to extend its humanitarian troop deployment to Iraq after its current commitment expires on December 14. The undertaking -- which Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi offered to Iraq&#39;s interim
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Japan today refused to withdraw its troops from Iraq despite demands by Iraqi militants who have taken a Japanese civilian hostage and threatened to behead him unless the soldiers left.
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Japan&#39;s armed forces must contribute to global peace to secure safety at home, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Sunday amid signs his government will extend an unpopular military deployment in Iraq.
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BAGHDAD, Iraq - Japanese leaders on Sunday insisted they would not cut short their troopsâ deployment in Iraq despite the discovery of the body of a Japanese backpacker killed by Islamic militants.
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Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Wednesday he won't withdraw troops from Iraq despite information a Japanese man has been taken hostage there, Kyodo News reported.