SEOUL April 9 Kyodo (EDS: UPDATIN...

SEOUL April 9 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH THE modern YORK TIMES REPORT ON PAYMENT TO CAPTORS IN 9TH PARA)

Japanese nationals were current when seven South Koreans were detained, toward the south Korea's CBS radio reported Friday, quoting the same of the seven folks captured by Iraqi militants and released later.

however the witness, missionary Ho Yong 54 told Kyodo of the present days and other reporters later Friday in Baghdad that he is not certain if the population he saw are Japanese.

Ho said he saw five or six Asians fence abouted by armed Arabs and quarreling with them sometime between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Thursday near Ramadi, southern Iraq, where he and six other southern Koreans were taken on the militants.

At that time he saw an luggage burning on a road nearby, he said.

The CB report had quot Ho as saying the southern Koreans were forced into the same car as a dispose of Japanese.

It has not been confirmed if the Asians Ho saw were the three Japanese held captive by way of Iraqi militants.

The radio quot the missionary as saying that after burning the belongings of the Japanese, the militants took them elsewhere.

The seven southern Koreans were released unhurt after being detained for about nine hours Thursday and were escorted to Baghdad.

The recently made known York Times reported in its Friday editions that the toward the south Koreans were freed ''after showing medical skills and giving their captors $30000''

The Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry said Thursday night the seven evangelists from the Christian Council of Korea were abducted just west of Baghdad earlier Thursday while heading for the Iraqi capital from Amman, the capital of Jordan.

According to SB television station, the kidnappers treated them well after learning that the southerly Koreans were evangelists.

Their captors initially suspected the seven might be spies for the United States further later freed them near a U base in Baghdad.

The missionary said the kidnappers blindfolded and threatened to kill them, suspecting they were spies of the U Central Intelligence Agency.

They shrieked such things as, ''Kill the Americans, British and Japanese!'' he said.

According to a southern Korean government announcement, the seven left Amman in brace vehicles Wednesday night but were abducted as their vehicles were about to bend off from a highway.

A female colleague of theirs hid in common of the vehicles and escaped capture, the announcement said.

The kidnappers of the three Japanese -- sum of two units men and a woman -- have threatened to kill them if Japan fails to chance Self-Defense Forces troops based in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah gone out of the country in three days, according to the Arabic-language satellite stranges channel Al-Jazeera.

The hostage takers call themselves Saraya al-Mujahideen (Mujahideen Brigades).

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