I'll try to convert that to an mpeg. Three Japaneese have now been captured.
In a videotape broadcast to the Arab world by Al-Jazeera, men with automatic rifles and swords threatened to kill three blindfolded Japanese hostages unless Tokyo removed its troops from Iraq. Japan said it had "no reason" to withdraw.
Lawmakers in Tokyo said the three Japanese civilians — identified as male and female aid workers and a male journalist — were kidnapped by a terrorist-related group, according to the Japanese news agency Kyodo.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said the government was still trying to confirm the reports, but he added that Japan was standing firm in its commitment to Iraq, adding there was "no reason" to withdraw.
In the videotape, obtained by The Associated Press, three Japanese were shown blindfolded and crouched on the floor of a concrete walled room with an iron door. Standing behind them were four masked gunmen in black, holding automatic weapons and RPG launchers.
The gunmen made the Japanese lie on the floor, pointing swords and knives at their chests and throats. The woman's lips could be seen moving as if she was speaking.
One gunman put a knife to the throat of a man, whose eyes widened in panic, and he struggled against his captor. The woman wept and hid her eyes as another gunman tried to pull her hands away from her face and he pressed a knife toward her throat.
Tokyo has sent 530 troops to the southern city of Samawah, part of a planned deployment of 1,100 on a noncombat mission to purify water and help rebuild Iraq — Japan's first deployment of troops since World War II.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has been one of the strongest backers of the U.S.-led invasion, a stance that has raised concern Japanese troops could become targets.
The Japanese were taken by a group identifying itself as the "Mujahedeen Squadrons," which Al-Jazeera said gave a three-day ultimatum for Japan to announce it will withdraw its troops or they would be killed.
story.news.yahoo.com
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