Japanese officials press for release of hostage held by militants ...
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TOKYO Japanese leaders are struggling to make contact with Islamic militants in Iraq holding a Japanese traveler hostage. The Japanese government says it has few details on the kidnapping of the 24-year-old tourist.
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Japanese leaders struggled on Thursday to make contact with Islamic militants in Iraq who took a Japanese traveler hostage as the 48-hour deadline approached for the young man's threatened beheading. Tokyo stood firm in its refusal to meet the kidnappers' demand to withdraw troops from Iraq.
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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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Families of eight Chinese hostages in  Iraq pleaded on Thursday for their release as a deadline set by  their captors neared, and Japan said it was checking reports  one of its citizens had been kidnapped.
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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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Taliban-linked militants holding three kidnapped United Nations workers, including a British woman, are demanding the release of 26 prisoners, some possibly held at Guantanamo Bay, in return for sparing the hostagesâ lives.
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A Pakistani council of tribesmen sought on Tuesday to secure the release of two Chinese engineers taken hostage by al Qaeda-linked militants from tribes near Pakistan&#39;s border with Afghanistan.
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Japan&#39;s Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, has called for the release of of a Japanese tourist taken hostage in Iraq but says Japan will not &quot;bend to terror.
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Al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi&#39;s militant group threatened to behead a Japanese hostage it said worked with Japan&#39;s forces in Iraq if Tokyo did not withdraw its troops from the country within 48 hours.
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Efforts to rescue a Japanese hostage in Iraq continued Wednesday with a call from Japan&#39;s foreign minister on the abductors to free the young man while the British hostage in
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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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Japan grew more worried on Friday about  the fate of a Japanese hostage in Iraq as time passed after the  expiry of deadline set by his captors to behead him unless  Tokyo withdrew its troops.
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threat by a militant group to behead a Japanese hostage within 48 hours unless Tokyo pulls its forces out. &quot;We cannot tolerate terrorism and we will not give in to terrorism,&quot; Koizumi told reporters on Wednesday.
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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.
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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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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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Kidnappers of two Chinese engineers have demanded the release of two militants held by Pakistani security forces, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said.