Hostage bribes being paid

[Taro Toporific]

And in related news....


Japan sends Iraq judo equipment
: News4Sites - Martial Arts -- 11:17 pm GMT TOKYO, April 17 (UPI) -- Japan has sent Iraq $91,000 worth of judo and soccer equipment as part of its humanitarian assistance package, the Tokyo government said Saturday.

[Steve Bildermann]

Actually some of the weeklies (and you must judge their veracity on your own) are saying that Japan paid ...wait for it... 30 Oku yen in bribe money to get these hostages back.

I thought 'naaaa that must be wrong' but a couple of the weeklies have scans of bank documents showing that sum of money being moved to the Iraq consul last week. Phew!!

[nullpointer]

Actually some of the weeklies (and you must judge their veracity on your own) are saying that Japan paid ...wait for it... 30 Oku yen in bribe money to get these hostages back.

Dude, do you have a link or something, 'cause this is kinda...

[Steve Bildermann]

These are in the Japanese weekly print media, they not big into websites. sorry.

If you go down to your local conbini and peruse the magazine rack you can do 'tachiyomi' and you'll no doubt find these kind of stories.

Of course some of em also say Elvis is hiding out in Japan too

[Taro Toporific]

Actually some of the weeklies (and you must judge their veracity on your own) are saying that Japan paid ...wait for it... 30 Oku yen in bribe money to get these hostages back.

Dude, do you have a link or something, 'cause this is kinda...

I am hoping that Marvin will cover it but as of yet even the Yellow Presshasn't covered it in English. See Japan denies paying off hostage-takers / Mainichi Shimbun, April 16, 2004

[Taro Toporific]

Actually some of the weeklies (and you must judge their veracity on your own) are saying that Japan paid ...wait for it... 30 Oku yen in bribe money to get these hostages back

I wonder how much of the 30 Oku yen will be "appropriate"?

Hostages asked to pay flights home
April 19, 2004 / DailyTelegraph.news.com.au
JAPAN plans to make the country's five former hostages in Iraq pay for their plane fares back to their homeland, the Foreign Ministry said today.
The ministry also intends to charge the five civilians - who were released unharmed by their captors last week - for other costs for their safe return "as appropriate," a ministry official said...

[cstaylor]

Funny, I don't remember them charging the NK abductees... oh wait, that hostage situation fit their right-wing political agenda.

[Steve Bildermann]

Aisawa denies gov't paid ransom to end hostage crisis

Senior Vice Foreign Minister Ichiro Aisawa on Tuesday denied reports by various weekly magazines that the Japanese government might have paid ransom to achieve the release of Japanese citizens taken captive in Iraq.

"We need to take into consideration security concerns. It is not possible to disclose all the information, including how the clerics association helped, but we will do so at an appropriate time"

Don't hold your breath.

[Taro Toporific]

Aisawa denies gov't paid ransom to end hostage crisisbut we will do so at an appropriate time"

[/quote]
So he just admitted a bribe was paid. No, no, that not right. It's just that the Japanese language allows such a statement without admitting anything. :P

[Ol Dirty Gaijin]

Aisawa denies gov't paid ransom to end hostage crisis but we will do so at an appropriate time"

and now make any japanese person a target anywhere for hostage deals. Real good thinking