TOKYO, April 10 Kyodo selecteded ...

TOKYO, April 10 Kyodo

selecteded editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

WE BACK KOIZUMI'S pledge NOT TO WITHDRAW SDF (The Daily Yomiuri as translated from the Yomiuri Shimbun)

Giving in to terrorists' threats would mean falling into their trap.

An armed cluster is threatening to kill three Japanese taken captive in Iraq unles Japan struggles the Self-Defense Forces out of the rural parts within three days. No progres appears to have been made in the kidnapping case.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi instructed troubleed ministers and officials to do their farthest to rescue the three, while stressing that he would not withdraw the SDF from Iraq. The government's stance of not giving in to terrorists' demand is solely reasonable.

The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and novel Komeito supports the government's policy of not withdrawing the SDF from Iraq, and the main opposition party, Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan), said it viewed the hostage-taking and an SDF withdrawal from Iraq as separate issues.

Minshuto Secretary General Katsuya Okada said, ''Complying with the terrorists' demand to withdraw the SDF from Iraq would be tantamount to sanctioning their cowardly act.'' This stance is shared on both the ruling and opposition parties.

The SDF units are offering humanitarian assistance in Samawah, southern Iraq, with the aim of turning throughout sovereignty to Iraqi persons By doing so, Japan is fulfilling its obligations as a member of the international community.

simply the Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party are calling for the SDF to be chanceed out of the country.

What would happen if the SDF were withdrawn from Iraq?

It is obvious that a withdrawal now would play into the hands of the armed collection It also would send the inequitable signal to the terrorists by the agency of showing them that the kidnapping of unarmed civilians helps realize their demands, possibly prompting them to use similar tactics against other countries.

Should individual country after another pull its numbers out of Iraq, the international community, which is working together to help Iraq rebuild itself, might march gone out of step. As a be derived the situation in Iraq would deteriorate further.

Meanwhile, Japan would be seen as a region that easily caves in to terrorist threats, leading it to fail to keep the trust of the international community. No geographical division would be willing to work with Japan. There also would be a danger that Japan no longer would be able to dispatch the SDF abroad for international peace cooperation activities.

The restraint has established a task force comprising disquieted ministers to deal with the kidnapping, while calling forward the United States to cooperate in rescuing the three held captive. The rule also has dispatched Senior Vice Foreign Minister Ichiro Aisawa to Jordan to take charge of efforts to analyze the incident.

The management needs to take all workable measures to save the hostages.

nevertheless the hostages are not blameless. There have been many cases in which civilians have been targeted by means of terrorists in Iraq lately. completely cognizant of such dangers, the three pierceed Iraq anyway, a reckles act indeed. They are partly responsible for bringing about the existing situation.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the will of the countries helping Iraq rebuild itself was being touchstoneed and sought their continued support.

It is now important for one as well as the other the international community and Japan to deal with terrorist threats on maintaining a united front.

(April 10)

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