Freed Hostages Plan Return to Iraq

TOKYO, Japan -- A fresh controversy is brewing in Japan after two of three Japanese hostages released in Iraq said they still wanted to work in the country.

The release of the three -- two aid workers and a journalist -- on Thursday brought huge sighs of relief in Tokyo where Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government faced its biggest challenge yet.

Militants seized the trio last week and threatened to burn them alive if demands for Japan to pull its troops from Iraq were not met.

Koizumi -- a staunch supporter of the U.S. in Iraq -- refused to do so and hailed their release.

"We could not give in to the demands of the captors. But we had to rescue the three. ... It was a difficult job," the Japanese leader told reporters.

Japanese involvement in Iraq has been a prickly issue with a public deeply divided over whether troops should be engaged in reconstruction efforts there.

Japan has 550 of its non-combat Self Defense Forces stationed in Iraq to help rebuild the country as part of the U.S.-led coalition.

With most Japanese opposed to the U.S.-led war in Iraq last year, the hostage crisis threatened to provide a worst-case scenario for the government ahead of parliamentary by-elections and an Upper House poll in the coming months.

The fate of two other Japanese civilians missing in Iraq remained unclear Friday. Media reports said the two had been kidnapped, though this had not been confirmed.

The three freed Japanese arrived in Dubai Friday and were likely to return to Japan during the weekend.

Television footage showed the trio tired but in apparent good health. They will undergo medical examinations while in Dubai.

At least two of them expressed a desire to continue their work in Iraq.

"I will continue," said a tearful Nahoko Takato, 34, when asked if she planned to return.

"They did some awful things, but I cannot bring myself to hate the Iraqi people," she said on Arab satellite TV station Al Jazeera.

Another released hostage, photojournalist Soichiro Koriyama, 32, told his family he wished to stay to document the war-torn nation, relatives told reporters.

On Friday, Koizumi reacted angrily to the former hostages' desires to return.

"A great number of people in the government, forgetting food and sleep, worked for their rescue," an irritated Koizumi said. "They should realize this."

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda also expressed his annoyance.

"They should decide after they come back to Japan, cool off and think seriously," he said.

The three had already come under criticism for traveling to Iraq despite the dangers.

Japan has urged its citizens to leave Iraq as militants continue to capture hostages.

Shock in Italy
The release of the Japanese nationals follows the execution of an Italian hostage by his captors in Iraq.

The death of Fabrizio Quattrocchi -- a contractor with a private security firm -- is the first confirmed killing of a hostage in Iraq.

News of his killing, which came during a live TV chat show Thursday, shocked Italy. (Full story)

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini was under fire Friday for his decision to appear on the show and reveal Quattrocchi's name before the man's family had been told. (Full story)

Three other Italians are still being held hostage, along with dozens of other foreign nationals throughout Iraq.

In other developments:


Three Czech journalists who were held hostage in Iraq have been freed, Czech sources told CNN Friday. They are journalists Michael Kubal and Petr Klimi from Czech TV and Vit Pohanka from Czech Radio. They went missing near Fallujah early in the week. A Czech Foreign Ministry spokesman in Prague said the three are in "good physical and psychological health" and should be returning to Prague soon.


A Syrian-born Canadian who was held hostage in Iraq has been released, the group he works for told CNN Friday. Fadi Fadel, 33, was released and is in Najaf, said Ed Bligh, a spokesman for the International Rescue Committee.


A Danish citizen is missing and believed to be held hostage in Iraq, according to a statement released Friday from the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.


An Australian peace activist claimed Friday she was kidnapped and held for 20 hours by Muslim fighters in Fallujah, Iraq. Donna Mulhearn told Sydney radio stations she and three other foreign humanitarian workers were seized Wednesday by heavily armed rebels as they tried to leave Fallujah. Mulhearn's claims could not immediately be verified. She previously made headlines when she acted as a human shield in Baghdad before last year's U.S.-led invasion.


Russia is continuing efforts to evacuate employees of its companies from Iraq, but has sent a single plane to Baghdad instead of the planned three because hundreds of workers are choosing to stay
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You'd have to be very brave or stupid to go back there after what happened.

[Timber Loftis]

"I will continue," said a tearful Nahoko Takato, 34, when asked if she planned to return. "They did some awful things, but I cannot bring myself to hate the Iraqi people," she said on Arab satellite TV station Al Jazeera. Another released hostage, photojournalist Soichiro Koriyama, 32, told his family he wished to stay to document the war-torn nation, relatives told reporters.

Russia is continuing efforts to evacuate employees of its companies from Iraq, but has sent a single plane to Baghdad instead of the planned three because hundreds of workers are choosing to stay

I think this is good news, and I appreciate their "can do" attitude toward helping Iraqis. There is a Chinese proverb that says those who say something cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

I fear for the other 3 Italians. With 1 killed already, I think the fate of the other 3 is grim.