Freed Japanese journalist says kidnappers not Taliban

Freed Japanese journalist says kidnappers not Taliban

TOKYO, Japan - Freelance journalist Kosuke Tsuneoka, who was released on Sept. 4 by his kidnappers in Afghanistan, speaks during an interview with Kyodo News in Tokyo on Sept. 6, 2010, after arriving in Japan the same day. Through messages posted on his Twitter account, Tsuneoka denied his abductors were Taliban insurgents as claimed by Afghan security authorities.

Freed Japanese journalist says kidnappers not Taliban

Freed Japanese journalist says kidnappers not Taliban

TOKYO, Japan - Freelance journalist Kosuke Tsuneoka, who was released on Sept. 4 by his kidnappers in Afghanistan, speaks during an interview with Kyodo News in Tokyo on Sept. 6, 2010, after arriving in Japan the same day. Through messages posted on his Twitter account, Tsuneoka denied his abductors were Taliban insurgents as claimed by Afghan security authorities.

Kin head to Paris to meet aid group doctor freed from abductors

Kin head to Paris to meet aid group doctor freed from abductors

NAGOYA, Japan - Aid group doctor Keiko Akahane's mother and elder brother prepare to leave Central Japan International Airport in Aichi Prefecture for Paris on Jan. 9 to meet her, following her release after three-and-a-half months of detention by an armed group in Ethiopia and Somalia.

Suspect says Koda killed because Japan did not withdraw troops

Suspect says Koda killed because Japan did not withdraw troops

AMMAN, Jordan - A group of Islamic extremists claims in an impage put up at an Internet website in October 2004 that they have abducted Japanese backpacker Shosei Koda in Iraq. An suspect arrested by Iraqi authorities has said Koda was killed because Japan did not follow his abductors' demand to withdraw Ground Self-Defense Force from Iraq, a senior Iraqi police official said on March 2. Japan is trying to verify information that the Iraqi authorities have arrested a suspect in the killing of the 24-year-old Japanese man who was traveling in Iraq, the Japanese Embassy in Iraq said.

Suspect says Koda killed because Japan did not withdraw troops

Suspect says Koda killed because Japan did not withdraw troops

NOGATA, Japan - Members of media organizations stand outside the house of Masumi Koda in Nogata, Fukuoka Prefecture, on March 2 following reports that a suspect in the October 2004 slaying of his son, Shosei Koda, in Iraq has said he was killed because Japan did not follow his abductors' demand to withdraw Ground Self-Defense Force from Iraq. ''Now I just feel only emptiness, thinking why my son had to be killed,'' Masumi Koda said of the news

Police believe Japanese kidnap victim has been killed

Police believe Japanese kidnap victim has been killed

CEBU, Philippines - Rolando Garcia (L), regional director of police in the Visayas region of the central Philippines, points to the guns and fake gold bars police confiscated in connection with the abduction of Japanese tourist Ryohei Sato at a news conference March 12. Garcia said police believe Sto had been killed by his abductors.

Suspect says Koda killed because Japan did not withdraw troops

Suspect says Koda killed because Japan did not withdraw troops

AMMAN, Jordan - A group of Islamic extremists claims in an impage put up at an Internet website in October 2004 that they have abducted Japanese backpacker Shosei Koda in Iraq. An suspect arrested by Iraqi authorities has said Koda was killed because Japan did not follow his abductors' demand to withdraw Ground Self-Defense Force from Iraq, a senior Iraqi police official said on March 2. Japan is trying to verify information that the Iraqi authorities have arrested a suspect in the killing of the 24-year-old Japanese man who was traveling in Iraq, the Japanese Embassy in Iraq said. (Kyodo)

Suspect says Koda killed because Japan did not withdraw troops

Suspect says Koda killed because Japan did not withdraw troops

NOGATA, Japan -Members of media organizations stand outside the house of Masumi Koda in Nogata, Fukuoka Prefecture, on March 2 following reports that a suspect in the October 2004 slaying of his son, Shosei Koda, in Iraq has said he was killed because Japan did not follow his abductors' demand to withdraw Ground Self-Defense Force from Iraq. (Kyodo)

Suspect says Koda killed because Japan did not withdraw troops

Suspect says Koda killed because Japan did not withdraw troops

AMMAN, Jordan - A suspect in the October 2004 slaying of Japanese backpacker Shosei Koda (in file photo) in Iraq has said Koda was killed because Japan did not follow his abductors' demand to withdraw Ground Self-Defense Force from Iraq, a senior Iraqi police official said on March 2. Japan is trying to verify information that the Iraqi authorities have arrested a suspect in the killing of the 24-year-old Japanese man who was traveling in Iraq, the Japanese Embassy in Iraq said. (Kyodo)

2 female Japanese tourists kidnapped in Yemen safely released

2 female Japanese tourists kidnapped in Yemen safely released

SANAA, Yemen - Two female Japanese tourists kidnapped in Yemen -- Shizuko Endo (L) and Keiko Mishima -- speak to reporters in the country's capital of Sanaa on May 8. They were released in the early morning of the same day after local tribal leaders negotiated with their abductors. (Kyodo)

Kin head to Paris to meet aid group doctor freed from abductors

Kin head to Paris to meet aid group doctor freed from abductors

NAGOYA, Japan - Aid group doctor Keiko Akahane's mother and elder brother prepare to leave Central Japan International Airport in Aichi Prefecture for Paris on Jan. 9 to meet her, following her release after three-and-a-half months of detention by an armed group in Ethiopia and Somalia. (Kyodo)

Freed Japanese journalist says kidnappers not Taliban

Freed Japanese journalist says kidnappers not Taliban

TOKYO, Japan - Freelance journalist Kosuke Tsuneoka, who was released on Sept. 4 by his kidnappers in Afghanistan, speaks during an interview with Kyodo News in Tokyo on Sept. 6, 2010, after arriving in Japan the same day. Through messages posted on his Twitter account, Tsuneoka denied his abductors were Taliban insurgents as claimed by Afghan security authorities. (Kyodo)

Freed Japanese journalist says kidnappers not Taliban

Freed Japanese journalist says kidnappers not Taliban

TOKYO, Japan - Freelance journalist Kosuke Tsuneoka, who was released on Sept. 4 by his kidnappers in Afghanistan, speaks during an interview with Kyodo News in Tokyo on Sept. 6, 2010, after arriving in Japan the same day. Through messages posted on his Twitter account, Tsuneoka denied his abductors were Taliban insurgents as claimed by Afghan security authorities. (Kyodo)

Police believe Japanese kidnap victim has been killed

Police believe Japanese kidnap victim has been killed

CEBU, Philippines - Rolando Garcia (L), regional director of police in the Visayas region of the central Philippines, points to the guns and fake gold bars police confiscated in connection with the abduction of Japanese tourist Ryohei Sato at a news conference March 12. Garcia said police believe Sto had been killed by his abductors. (Kyodo)