Japan televises appeal for hostage&#39;s release
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Japan&#39;s Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura has urged Islamic militants in Iraq to release a Japanese hostage, in an interview with the Arabic satellite network Al-Jazeera.
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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 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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BEIJING (Kyodo) Japan pressed North Korea on Sunday to provide fuller accounts of 10 Japanese who Tokyo says were abducted by Pyongyang agents, but the North did not provide new information as they wrapped up two days of talks, Japan&#39;s chief delegate said
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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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&quot;There is a possibility that this is the body of the Japanese hostage, but it has yet to be identified,&quot; a ministry spokesman said on Saturday.
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DUBAI : The Islamic militant group of Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi said in a video shown on the Internet it had taken a Japanese citizen hostage in Iraq and threatened to execute him if Tokyo does not withdraw its troops from Iraq in 48 hours.
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The wife of the US hostage threatened with execution in Iraq made another impassioned appeal on Tuesday for her husband&#39;s life and urged his captors to open up the lines of communication.
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The deadline set by Islamic militants to behead a Japanese hostage in Iraq unless Tokyo pulled its army out of the country expired with no fresh news of the young man's fate.
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A video tape posted on the Internet  Sunday showed British hostage Kenneth Bigley making a final  appeal to the British government to meet his captors' demands  before he was beheaded by a militant Islamist group.
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The family of Kenneth Bigley, the British hostage being held in Iraq, has made a direct appeal for his release to the militants who abducted the 62-year old-engineer.
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The family of hostage Kenneth Bigley are appealing for his release in Iraq as the threat of execution hangs over him. Mr Bigley and two Americans were seized in Baghdad on Thursday and threatened with death unless their abductors&#39; demands were met.
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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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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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âThe brother leader issued an appeal to the kidnappers saying: âWe request the release of this poor Briton since his family had requested our help ... and if they have any conditions, convey them to us in any way possibleâ,â JANA said.
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LONDON -- A videotape broadcast yesterday showed a British hostage in Iraq shackled in a cage and wearing an orange jumpsuit, pleading with Prime Minister Tony Blair to help save his life and accusing him of not doing enough to secure his freedom.
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BAGHDAD : Kidnapped British engineer Kenneth Bigley begged London to meet his captors&#39; demands and free Iraqi prisoners, in a new video broadcast on Arab television, amid a flurry of hostage releases.