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Freed Japanese hostaege pair apologize

AMMAN (Kyodo) - Two Japanese civilians freed April 17 by gunmen after being kidnapped near Fallujah earlier that week returned to Japan on April 20 after apologizing for causing trouble.

Freelance journalist Junpei Yasuda and human rights activist Nobutaka Watanabe made the apology at a news conference held in Amman on April 18.

"I failed to get enough information about the area, and I am sorry," Yasuda said.

While apologetic for having caused trouble, Yasuda and Watanabe said they were not in a position to comment on views expressed in Japan that they bear responsibility for what happened, with Japan having warned its citizens to steer clear of Iraq.

The two men added that their abductors apparently were elements of the Mujahideen Brigades and numbered about 50 people. They also said they were taken to four different locations before their release.

They said their captors view the Japanese troops deployed in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah as enemies and want them to leave Iraq.

The pair said their captors also threatened to kill them if they determined that they were working with the United States. Yasuda and Watanabe said their lives were spared because they were not armed.

The two men said that they were kidnapped when they tried to go near Fallujah, where fierce fighting has been going on. They said their objective was not to cover the downing of a U.S. military helicopter April 13.

Shukan ST: April 30, 2004

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