TOKYO, 10 April 2004 — Facing his toughest political test, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told an anguished Japan yesterday he had no plans to pull troops from Iraq despite a threat by kidnappers there to kill three Japanese civilians.

Tearful families of the three pleaded for the government to withdraw Japan’s non-combat troops from the southern Iraqi city of Samawa, where they have been helping to rebuild the area.

Thousands of protesters gathered in a Tokyo park, waving rainbow-colored peace flags and holding placards reading, “Government: Don’t murder the three people. Pull out the troops.”

Some analysts said mishandling of the crisis could bring down the government, a prospect that worried financial markets.

“I don’t think they can be saved if the government does not consider pulling the troops out. There are only two days left,” Kyodo news agency quoted the mother of 18-year-old hostage Noriaki Imai as telling a news conference.

Koizumi, however, said he was not considering withdrawing troops from Samawa, where 550 Japanese soldiers are stationed.

“We should not give in to these despicable threats from terrorists,” he told reporters.

He added the government was working to confirm the facts and that if the kidnappings were confirmed, the hostages’ safety was the top priority.

Japanese were stunned when a previously unknown group released a video late on Thursday showing what it said were three hostages, blindfolded and with a gun to their heads.

The group vowed to “burn them alive” if Japanese troops did not leave Iraq within three days.

Koizumi has spent enormous political capital to push through the deployment of about 1,000 military personnel in total to demonstrate that Japan can take a bolder role in global security.

The mission is Japan’s riskiest military operation since World War II and a major shift away from the purely defensive military stance Tokyo adopted after its defeat in the war.

Japanese Senior Vice Foreign Minister Ichiro Aisawa was set to arrive in Amman today to gather information, accompanied by a National Police Agency “Terrorism Response Team”. Police would give no details about the unit.

The whereabouts of the three — Imai, who had planned to look into the effects of depleted uranium weapons; aid worker Nahoko Takato, 34; and freelance reporter Soichiro Koriyama, 32 — was unclear.

So was the precise deadline, although a ruling coalition official said it was around 9 p.m. (1200 GMT) on April 11.

Besides the Japanese, seven South Koreans, a Briton, two Palestinians with Israeli identity cards, and a Canadian were reported to have been taken hostage in recent days. The Koreans were later freed.

US Vice President Dick Cheney, who arrives in Tokyo today at the beginning of an Asian tour, is expected to urge Washington’s allies in the region to stand firm in their commitment to the US-led mission in Iraq.

No Japanese soldier has been killed in combat since 1945, and casualties could affect support for Koizumi’s government, whose ruling coalition faces Upper House elections in July.

Japan’s public is sharply divided over the dispatch of troops. Critics say it violates Japan’s pacifist constitution and resent what they saw as US pressure to put “boots on the ground” in Iraq.

“As we’ve said in the past, hasn’t this Iraq war contributed to an expansion of terrorism, rather than leading to its prevention?”, Democratic Party leader Naoto Kan asked Parliament.

Organizers said 4,000 demonstrators took part in a rally at Hibiya Park in central Tokyo to call for the troops withdrawal.

Tokyo residents are worried about a possible attack in the nation’s capital, while in Samawa, blasts were reported again on Thursday near the Japanese soldiers’ camp.

There were no reports of casualties or damage but the troops have suspended their reconstruction work outside the camp.

Financial markets were on edge. “If the government mishandles the issue, that could bring down the Koizumi Cabinet,” said Yasuo Ueki, a market analyst at consultancy Poko Financial Office.