Iraqi insurgents pressure US allies to withdraw troops

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, April 09, 2004

Iraqi insurgents pressure US allies to withdraw troops

Three Japanese civilians have been kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents, bringing the number of foreign captives to 14 and raising a new threat of violence in the country.

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Three Japanese civilians have been kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents, bringing the number of foreign captives to 14 and raising a new threat of violence in the country.

Gunmen have abducted 14 foreigners in a bid to pressure US allies to withdraw their troops from the country.

The abduction of the three Japanese dealt a blow to Japan's Iraq policy, which has given rise to public debates and concern about its troops being targeted by insurgents or involved in fighting.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda has said that as the Self-Defense Forces are providing reconstruction support for the Iraqi people, Japan has no reason to withdraw.

Japan has sent more than 500 troops, the first deployment of its troops abroad since World War II, to the southern city of Samawah, to help purify water and rebuild Iraq.

According to a videotape seen on an Arab TV, the insurgents threatened to burn those Japanese alive within days unless Japan agrees to pull its troops out of Iraq.

But the Japanese government said Thursday that it has no plans to get its troops out of the country in response to the threat amid a series of other kidnappings targeting foreign civilians.

Two Arabs from Israel, a Canadian aid worker and eight South Korean missionaries have been kidnapped this week. But one of the South Koreans managed to escape and the other seven were released later.

The series of kidnappings is seen as a new tactic to exert pressure on their governments, which are allied with the United States, and come amid an offensive launched by US troops against Sunni and Shiite insurgents.

On the same day, Iraqi Interior Minister Nouri Badran resigned after US governor of Iraq, Paul Bremer, expressed his dissatisfaction with the performance of the Interior Ministry and said he wanted a different religious mix in the cabinet.

Fighting this week in Fallujah, Ramadi and other places has left 36 Americans and more than 450 Iraqis dead. Police in the cities have abandoned their stations or stood aside as the gunmen were roaming the streets.

In Baghdad, US forces fought with militias in their main stronghold. A US helicopter hit the al-Sadr office early Thursday, heavily damaging the building and wounding several people.

US officials admitted a serious problem in trying to tame Iraq amid ferocious resistance from insurgents.

On the security situation in Iraq a year after coalition forces overthrew Saddam Hussein, US Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, commander of the US-led coalition troops in Iraq, said at a press conference that his forces would not be deterred in their goal to pacify the country before the United States plans to hand sovereignty back to an Iraqi government on June 30.

He said the goal is to restore order by eliminating anti-coalition forces in Fallujah, destroying the Sadr militia in central and southern provinces and making progress in reconstruction of the infrastructure, the economy and the transition to Iraqi sovereignty.

US allies also insisted Thursday that they would stay in Iraq after the string of abductions. Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy pledged to keep his country's troops in Iraq and said a withdrawal would mean yielding to terrorists.

South Korea plans to dispatch more than 3,000 troops to help reconstruct Iraq this year. Both Japan and South Korea have promised to stand firm in Iraq.

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