Japan refuses to withdraw troops in hostage drama
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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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TOKYO - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi vowed on Sunday that Japanese troops would continue their domestically unpopular mission in Iraq after Islamic militants demanding a pullout killed a 24-year-old Japanese tourist.
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Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi  said Wednesday he would not withdraw troops from Iraq despite a  threat by a militant group to behead a Japanese hostage within  48 hours unless Tokyo pulled its forces out.
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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 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 pulled out its troops.
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A group led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab  al-Zarqawi threatened to behead a Japanese hostage in Iraq if  Tokyo did not withdraw its troops, but Prime Minister Junichiro  Koizumi said Japan's contingent would stay put.
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The beheading of a Japanese hostage in Iraq renewed pressure on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to withdraw his country&#39;s troops, as the opposition blamed his pro-US policy for the slaying.
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Japan stood by its refusal to give aid to North Korea on Tuesday unless Pyongyang settles a feud over Japanese kidnapped decades ago, adding a new twist to this week's talks on ending the North's nuclear arms program.
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TOKYO: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appeared on Monday to have won public backing for his refusal to pull Japanese troops out of Iraq despite the weekend beheading of a Japanese hostage.
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Italy says it has no intention of withdrawing its troops from Iraq despite the demands of kidnappers who seized an Italian journalist.
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A group led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi threatened to behead a Japanese hostage in Iraq if Tokyo did not withdraw its troops, but Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Japan&#39;s contingent would stay put.
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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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Japan has been appealing for international help to secure the release of a Japanese man kidnapped by Islamic militants in Iraq and threatened with death.
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Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has announced that Japan will not recall soldiers stationed in Iraq because an Iraqi group has threatened to kill a Japanese hostage.
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Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Wednesday Japanese troops would not pull out of Iraq, rejecting a demand by Islamic militants claiming to have taken a Japanese hostage.
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Shocked by the murder of a kidnapped Japanese hostage in Iraq, the Japanese government Sunday denounced the slaying but vowed to keep its forces there.
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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.