The passport of Shosei Koda, a Japanese traveler taken hostage and beheaded in Iraq last month, has been found by U.S. troops in Fallujah and handed over to the Japanese Embassy in Baghdad, officials in Tokyo said Thursday.
The troops recovered the passport during a search of a house in the central Iraq city, where fierce battles were fought between U.S.-led forces and insurgents.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said the 24-year-old's passport was given to Japanese officials Sunday, together with other belongings.
Hosoda declined to describe the other belongings, citing privacy reasons. All of the articles will be handed to Koda's family in Fukuoka Prefecture, he added.
Koda's decapitated body was found on a Baghdad street on Oct. 31.