Deadline passes in Japanese hostage crisis in Iraq
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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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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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The family of a Japanese man being held  hostage in Iraq begged for his life on Friday after the expiry  of a deadline set by his captors, who have threatened to behead  him unless Japan withdrew its troops.
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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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A deadline set by militants who have  threatened to behead two Americans and a Briton seized in Iraq  was due to expire Monday, and more than two dozen other  hostages were also facing death unless rebel demands were met.
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Japan&#39;s prime minister today refused to bend to demands by militants who have taken a Japanese civilian hostage in Iraq and threatened to behead him unless Tokyo withdraws its soldiers.
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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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October 29, 2004 -- BAGHDAD, Iraq - The body of an Asian man â-ith gunshot wounds to the head and body â - reportedly found in Tikrit last night after the deadline passed for Japanese hostage Shosei Koda, who had been shown in a video aired early
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A Japanese citizen taken hostage in Iraq has been executed, the Kyodo news agency reported Saturday. Shosei Koda, 24, was kidnapped last week, by the group linked to al-Qaida-affiliated militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
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CAIRO -- Video posted yesterday on a militant Islamic website 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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A militant group in Iraq has claimed it is holding a Japanese citizen hostage and gave Tokyo 48 hours to withdraw troops from the country.
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A group threatened to execute a Japanese hostage in Iraq unless Japan pulls out its forces, but Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said on Wednesday that the Japanese troops would remain in the country.
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Japan insisted on Wednesday that it would not bow to the demands of Islamic militants in Iraq who threatened to behead a young Japanese drifter unless Tokyo pulled its troops from the country within 48 hours.
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Japan says it is checking reports that the body of an Asian man has been found in northern Iraq, following expiration of an execution deadline for a Japanese national set by militants demanding the withdrawal of all Japanese troops in Iraq.
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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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Time appears to be running out for a British hostage kidnapped in Baghdad, after his Muslim extremist captors threatened to kill him if their demands are not met.
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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.