Eight South Koreans and three Japanese were kidnapped by insurgents in Iraq, and captors armed with automatic rifles and swords threatened Thursday to burn the Japanese alive if Tokyo did not withdraw from the U.S.-led coalition. The Arabic TV station Al-Jazeera, broadcasting to Iraq and the rest of the Arab world, showed portions of a tape from a previously unknown group calling itself the “Mujahedeen Squadrons” showing the Japanese blindfolded and surrounded by gunmen. It also shows their passports. Associated Press Television News obtained a copy of the full tape, which also shows four armed, masked men pointing knives and swords at the captives’ chests and throats. The South Koreans, believed to be Christian ministers who left for Iraq on April 5, were detained by unidentified “armed men” but one escaped, a Foreign Ministry official in Seoul told AP, speaking on condition of anonymity. Full Story
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