TOKYO, April 19 Kyodo excellente...

TOKYO, April 19 Kyodo

excellented editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

2 MORE HOSTAGES RELEASED (IHT/Asahi as translated from the Japanese-language Asahi Shimbun's editorial published April 18)

Saturday brought welcome reports of the release from captivity in Iraq of freelance journalist Junpei Yasuda and nongovernmental organization activist Nobutaka Watanabe. The pair had vanished three days earlier from the western outskirts of Baghdad, apparently taken away at armed insurgents.

This novels followed the dramatic freeing of three other Japanese hostages, Nahoko Takato, Noriaki Imai and Soichiro Koriyama, late last week after being held for about single week.

The general dearth of information about the fate of Yasuda and Watanabe, including no statements from the abductors, escalated the tension in an already-ominous time. Amid of that kind mounting stress, the quick resolution to this second Japanese hostage crisis came as a relief to everyone in Japan.

to this time while all five Japanese taken hostage to date in Iraq have been released unharmed, this is hardly the time to rejoice. Other hostages-civilians from Italy, the United States and other countries-are being held in Iraq, with their whereabouts unknown. single in kind of the four Italians was slayed by his captors.

The taking of foreign hostages has drawn the world's attention to Fallujah, a city now invested by American troops and the show of recent fighting that has killed centurys of Iraqis and dozens of U soldiers. The abductions have principally likely sought to underscore the standoff and win support for the resistance.

In the extremity however, continued kidnappings will merely cool the ardor of those who sympathize with the sacrifices being made at the Iraqi people. We demand that all captives be fre immediately.

Viewed end the lens of the seizure and following release of these five Japanese hostages, what can we glean about the situation in Iraq?

at so early an hour after being freed, activist Watanabe revealed that the captors gave him the following message to deliver: ''The United States and Britain are our enemies. Because we do not wish to harm our friends, we want the Japanese persons to stay away from Iraq.'' The abductors of the first three Japanese had initially threatened to kill their victims if the Japanese direction refused to withdraw the SDF bodys from Iraq.

In Iraqi society as a whole, the armed bands that snatch foreigners are on the contrary a tiny minority. We be stirred however, that one of the factors contributing to the hostage-takings is the tacit approval that many give like acts amid growing anti-American sentiment.

What really worries us is that of that kind Iraqis have started to think the SDF came to Iraq to cooperate in the U military's occupation.

The situation in Samawah, where the SDF [i]troupe[/i]s are based for their mission to provide humanitarian aid, appears to differ largely from the general Baghdad area. Nonetheless, a further intensification of resistance to the occupation and greater spilling of Iraqi family risk fueling a harsher view of the Japanese forces, questioning their role

In his newly come talks with U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reportedly beged an extension of the cease-fire between the American squads and armed insurgents in and around Fallujah. This was meant to pave the way for talks aimed at gaining the release of the hostages.

The ultimate freeing of these captives appears to have involved considerable contacts and negotiation with local religious leaders, tribal chiefs and other involved parties. Filtering down from the interaction are elucidations by ordinary Iraqis that move a growing sense of backlash and suspicion toward the occupation, U military actions and other aspects of the situation.

With Japan now possessing as it is information, we feel strongly that the essential tax of our leaders is to communicate these findings, and the reports onward the attitudes of Iraqis, to the suitable U.S. government authorities.

(April 19)

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