Iraq Notebook
New report of Japanese hostage

AP A video posted yesterday shows what a militant Islamic Web site says is a Japanese hostage held by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group.

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CAIRO, Egypt — Video posted yesterday on a militant Islamic Web site showed what it claimed was a Japanese captive kidnapped by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group and threatened to behead him within 48 hours unless Japan pulls its troops from Iraq.

The man was identified only as someone connected to the Japanese armed forces. He spoke briefly in halting English and Japanese, addressing himself to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

"They asked me why Japanese government broke the law and sent troops to Iraq," the man said in English. "They want Japanese government and Koizumi prime minister, they want to withdraw the Japanese troops from Iraq or cut my head. ...

"We give the Japanese government 48 hours to withdraw its troops from Iraq, otherwise his fate will be the same of that his predecessors, Berg and Bigley and other infidels," the man said, referring to the beheadings of British engineer Kenneth Bigley and U.S. businessman Nicholas Berg.

The video, which lasted about three minutes, bore the logo of al-Qaida in Iraq, the new name for al-Zarqawi's group, previously known as Tawhid and Jihad. The group has claimed responsibility for beheading Bigley, two U.S. co-workers and Berg, as well as car bombings and other attacks.

The video's authenticity could not be independently confirmed.

Japan's public broadcaster NHK identified the hostage as Akio Koda of the southern city of Fukuoka, citing Koda's father as saying that the Foreign Ministry had asked him to check whether the video showed his son.

It was the third hostage crisis involving Japanese citizens in Iraq. In April, three Japanese were held by insurgents who threatened to burn them alive unless Tokyo withdrew its troops from Iraq. Two others were taken hostage separately about the same time. Koizumi refused to meet the hostage-takers' demands, but all five were released unharmed.

The video was shown repeatedly by NHK and was certain to trigger an uproar in Japan and pose a new test to the government, which has sent 500 troops to southern Iraq on a humanitarian mission in support of U.S.-led reconstruction efforts, despite strong opposition in public opinion.

Polls show about half of the Japanese oppose the dispatch because of fears it could draw the troops into the fighting there and prompt insurgents and terrorists to target Japanese citizens at home and abroad. Many also argue the dispatch violates the country's pacifist postwar constitution, which limits Japanese troops to self-defense of Japan.
 
Insurgents in Iraq have kidnapped more than 150 foreigners. Most were kidnapped for ransom and freed unharmed, but at least 30 have been killed as part of a campaign to drive out foreign troops and companies.

Most main roads out of Fallujah sealed

FALLUJAH, Iraq — U.S. troops reinforced positions around Fallujah after an overnight airstrike yesterday and sealed main roads out of the rebel-held city.

Witnesses said U.S. tanks and armored vehicles cut off the main highway to Jordan that runs north of Fallujah as warplanes crisscrossed the sky. Only one road leading northwest out of the city, 32 miles west of Baghdad, remained open to civilian traffic, the witnesses said.

In the overnight raid, the U.S. military said it had carried out a "precision strike" on a safe house used by followers of al-Qaida ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, killing an associate. It did not name him or give his nationality.

Many families have fled Fallujah, fearing a widely expected U.S. assault designed to bring the city under the interim government's control before elections due in January.

Iraq war linked to rise of Islamist movement

CANBERRA, Australia — The war in Iraq has boosted the number of Islamic militants worldwide and a danger exists of Iraq becoming a haven for terrorists if the U.S.-led coalition were to withdraw, Australia's spy-agency chief said.

Dennis Richardson, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), said the Iraq war had provided propaganda and recruitment opportunities for Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.

He said it was reasonable to assume that the number of Islamic militants had grown since the 2003 invasion of Iraq and that further international links would be developed among these individuals and groups.

"In the context of global terrorism, the real potential downside would be in the U.S.-led coalition losing its resolve and drifting away," Richardson said last night.

"That would embolden militant Islamists globally and could lead to the establishment, in parts of Iraq, of Afghanistan-type safe havens for terrorists, in which training and other rebuilding could occur unhindered," Richardson said in Sydney.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer was adamant today that Australia would not "cave in" to terrorist groups but agreed with Richardson that the Iraq war may motivate new recruits.

Australia has never been hit by a major terrorist attack on home soil, but 88 Australians were among 202 people killed in the Bali nightclub bombings in 2002 and a car bomb exploded outside Australia's Jakarta embassy last month, killing nine Indonesians.

Army chief: No plans to trim combat tours

WASHINGTON — The Army will not shorten combat tours in Iraq next year from 12 months to six or nine months, as some had hoped, because that would undermine the war effort, the Army's top general said yesterday.

Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, said he would prefer shorter combat tours in Iraq but believes that cannot happen as long as the U.S. military is required to maintain roughly the 135,000 troops now there to fight the insurgency.

The Army and Marine Corps are preparing to maintain that level at least through the end of next year.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said that if U.S.-trained and equipped Iraqi security forces become available in larger numbers next year, U.S. troops levels may be reduced.