Japan refuses hostage-takers&#39; demands
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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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&gt; BAGHDAD, Iraq - Authorities insisted on Thursday that they won&#39;t give in to militants&#39; demands to free female Iraqi prisoners despite the plea of a tearful British hostage
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Britain ruled out negotiations with the abductors of a British hostage in Iraq on Thursday after a desperate plea for help from the hostage.
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Japan said Thursday it has made no agreement to stop hunting humpback whales, denying comments from the US ambassador here that suggested a temporary deal had been struck.
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Japan sought international and Iraqi help  for a Japanese man held hostage in Iraq on Thursday, less than  24 hours before a deadline set by his captors to behead him  unless Japan withdraws 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&#39;s contingent would stay put.
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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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Japanese officials tried Thursday to contact the Iraqi militants holding a Japanese hostage, as the 48-hour deadline for his threatened execution approached.
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe refused to back down Monday in a row over whether the military used Asian women as sex slaves during World War II, repeating that there was no evidence of coercion.
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Japan&#39;s Foreign Ministry has dismissed a claim by Iraqi militants who kidnapped and killed a Japanese hostage that Tokyo offered a ransom for his release.
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Japan said no member of its military  stationed in Iraq is missing, after 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 forces from the  country.
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Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made the pledge after talks with visiting South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun. The Japanese government is under pressure to impose sanctions over a row concerning kidnapped Japanese.
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Britain yesterday ruled out negotiating with the abductors of a Briton in Iraq, despite a desperate plea for help from the hostage.
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Japan won&#39;t yield to terrorism or withdraw its troops from Iraq, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said, in response to reports an Iraqi group kidnapped a Japanese man.
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Japan's government was still in the dark  about a Japanese held hostage in Iraq on Thursday, less than 24  hours before a deadline set by his captors, who have threatened  to behead the young man unless Japan withdraws its troops.
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North Korea declined a request to resume talks aimed at persuading the communist nation to abandon its nuclear weapons program, Japan&#39;s government spokesman Hiroyuki Hosoda said.
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A body resembling a Japanese hostage has been found in Iraq and is being shipped to Qatar for identification, Japanese officials said on Saturday, after Tokyo refused a demand by his captors to pull out its troops.