'Race against time' to free Japanese hostages

By Todd Crowell

TOKYO

Japan is in a “race against time” to free its kidnapped nationals being held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday.

Talking to journalists on his return to Japan after a six-day tour of the Middle East, Abe said he would not bow to “terrorism,” the Japan Times reported.

“This is a very tough race against time but the government will do its utmost,” he said. “I have ordered the government to use all diplomatic channels and routes possible… to ensure the release of the two people.”

Abe said he had sought help from regional leaders including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He added: “Japan will never yield to terrorism. Japan will do its best in the battle against the cowardice of terrorism, hand in hand with the international community.”

Earlier, it was reported one of the hostages, freelance journalist Kenji Goto, had travelled to Syria to find Haruna Yukawa, the man he is currently being held with.

Kyodo News said it had spoken to a Syrian guide who said Goto, 47, headed to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo last October to look for Yukawa, reportedly captured in August.

The unidentified guide told the news agency that Goto asked the guide to accompany him to the Syrian city of Raqqa, the militants' stronghold and de facto capital.

The man refused and said Goto left on Oct. 25 with another local man. The guide said this man later told him Goto had been captured by the militant group, known as ISIL, and taken to Mosul in northern Iraq.

Goto reportedly first met Yukawa, 42, a self-styled private security contractor, last April or May in northern Syria. The two had been in contact since.

Meanwhile, Japanese government sources told Kyodo that Goto’s wife received an email last month demanding a ransom of more than 2 billion yen ($17 million).

She got an initial email in November from an unidentified party saying it had captured Goto, according to the sources. The messages are thought to have come from ISIL because of similarities between the email address and one used in previous hostage cases.

The Japanese government stressed Wednesday that the support it has pledged to Middle Eastern countries affected by the conflict in Syria and Iraq was "non-military" – refuting the group’s claim that Tokyo had donated money to attack Muslims.

"What Japan has provided is humanitarian assistance targeting refugees," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference.

He said Japan was trying to contact the hostage takers through diplomatic channels but they had not contacted the Japanese government directly.

In a video released Tuesday, Japan was ordered to pay a $200 million ransom within 72 hours to secure the two men’s release. Japanese government sources told Kyodo they were unclear on when the deadline would expire but later said they believed it was 2.50 p.m. Friday (0550GMT).

During a visit to Brussels Tuesday, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan would seek help from NATO in securing the hostages’ release. France and the U.S. have promised assistance.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has called for the unconditional release of the hostages.

Meanwhile, Goto’s friend and former church pastor Hiroshi Tamura told the Japan Times the journalist was “devoted to reporting what should be reported with a firm conviction.”

He added: “He has a strong sense of justice… and he has always been conscious of vulnerable people, including children.”

The online video, which shows a knife-wielding militant standing behind the hostages, is similar to previous hostage videos. As well as hundreds of summarily executed prisoners, mostly Iraqis and Syrians, ISIL has beheaded five Western captives after releasing videos.

But it is the first time ISIL has publicly demanded a ransom and Goto and Yukawa are the group's first Japanese hostages.

The group also holds British journalist John Cantlie and a 26-year-old American female aid worker.