TOKYO, 15 April 2004 — The families of the Japanese hostages in Iraq showed the strain of waiting and not knowing yesterday, as they appealed for the three to be released, stressing that they had gone to Iraq to help the Iraqi people.
At a packed news conference, the relatives took turns to apologize for the crisis and express thanks for the cooperation and help they have received from governments and people all over the world.
Looking visibly exhausted with worry as the crisis dragged on for the seventh day with no information about the hostages, the six relatives of the three said they wanted nothing but the safe return of their loved ones.
Noriaki Imai, a 18-year-old male volunteer worker, Nahoko Takato, 34, a female volunteer worker, and Soichiro Koriyama, a 32-year-old male freelance photojournalist — are believed to be held in Fallujah, west of Baghdad.
Takato’s sister, Ayako, 30, repeatedly broke down in tears throughout the hour-long press conference, while Imai’s mother, Naoko sobbed and did not speak.
“What we must do is to appeal to the world to save the lives of the three,” said Yosuke Imai, the 23-year-old brother of Imai, and the most composed of the group.
“My brother went to Iraq to publish a children’s book on dangers of depleted uranium bombs in Iraq. With the book, he wanted to voice the universal human aspiration for peace,” Imai said. Hostage-takers, calling themselves the “Mujahedeen Brigades”, have threatened to execute the three unless Japan withdraws its 550 troops from the southern Iraqi city of Samawa.
Koizumi has rejected their demand, saying Japan will not pull out the troops tasked with humanitarian work, while relatives have repeatedly urged the government to do so to rescue the hostages. Koizumi voiced support yesterday for US President George W. Bush’s strategy in Iraq, saying his decision to join US-led allies in the war-torn country was not a mistake.
Koizumi reiterated his plan to keep Japan’s 550 troops in southern Iraq despite mounting security concerns as well as a demand for their withdrawal by kidnappers who have taken three Japanese citizens hostage. “It is true that things haven’t been going in an optimistic way,” the Japanese premier told the debate. But the strain on the relatives has not only come from worrying about their loved ones.
Yesterday they declined to comment on any questions related to Tokyo’s handling of the crisis and the deployment of the Japanese troops in Iraq amid rising criticism in the country’s conservative media over the families’ earlier outspoken criticism of the government’s crisis management.
The Sankei Shimbun said yesterday over 80 percent of 300 phone calls and e-mails it had received since the beginning of the crisis strongly backed the government’s refusal to pull out troops and were critical of the three and their families for going to such a dangerous place.
The paper quoted one reader as questioning why so much taxpayers’ money should be spent and government employees’ holidays interrupted to try to win the release of the hostages. The homepage of Takato, the female hostage, has been shut down due to the overwhelming amount of hate mail and slanderous messages, according to Japanese media.
Imai’s home answering machine is full of hate messages including “You Die,” “You Deserve Death,” the Tokyo Shimbun reported.
Asked about the surprising hostility displayed toward the families, Takato’s sister, Ayako, only commented that they had received “all kinds of messages,” saying all the family members “sincerely and humbly accept every opinion.”
