Patience is running thin as efforts to have three Japanese hostages in Iraq freed drag on with no apparent progress. The crisis appeared to have been nearing a resolution on Sunday morning when the kidnappers issued a statement saying that they would release the civilians within 24 hours. But the deadline came and went with no reliable message from the abductors. The fates of the hostages still hang in the balance.
Japan is not the only nation whose citizens have been kidnapped in Iraq. Nationals of more than a dozen countries, including those that have no troops stationed there, also have been taken hostage. Why this sudden outburst of abductions? The most plausible reason is that Iraqi elements opposed to the U.S. occupation are taking aim at "soft targets" to spread their message abroad.
The three Japanese civilians -- two men (a freelance writer and a photojournalist) and a woman (a volunteer aid worker) -- were taken hostage on Thursday by members of Saraya al-Mujahideen (Warrior Brigade), a previously unknown militant group. The nation was shocked to watch video footage, aired by Arab satellite television Al-Jazeera, of the blindfolded hostages being held at gunpoint.