Japan asks it's civilians to leave Iraq - Finally!!

[Steve Bildermann]

Japan has urged its nationals in Iraq to leave the country following the kidnapping of several foreigners, including three Japanese civilians. But despite domestic pressure, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi insists he will not withdraw Japan's 550 troops.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3624525.stm

JAPANESE IN IRAQ

550 troops are in the south-eastern city of Samawah
The soldiers are tasked with rebuilding infrastructure
It is Japan's first post-war deployment to a combat zone

Hostages

Nahoko Takato

Nahoko Takato, 34, was working as a volunteer in Iraq.
From Hokkaido, in northern Japan, she was helping Iraqi street children in co-operation with Japanese NGOs.

Noriaki Imai

Noriaki Imai, 18, is the youngest of the hostages. He is also from Hokkaido. He graduated from high-school last month, where he is said to have developed an interest in the anti-war movement after studying Vietnam. He was in Iraq to research the effect of depleted uranium on the local population.

Soichiro Koriyama

Soichiro Koriyama, 32, is a former soldier who now works as a freelance photojournalist. Born in Kyushu, southern Japan, he was covering Iraq for a Japanese weekly magazine.

[ramchop]

Kyodo

The Foreign Ministry is scrambling to confirm the information on the two in addition to three other kidnapped Japanese civilians whose fate remains unknown. Dozens of foreign nationals have recently been abducted in Iraq.

One of the men is suspected of being Jumpei Yasuda, 30, of Iruma, Saitama Prefecture, also a journalist working in Iraq. The other is suspected of being Yasuda's roommate, Nobutaka Watanabe, a civic group activist.

[KingGorman]

Wow...it's about F'ing time...