Three Japanese civilians have been taken hostage in Iraq by a terrorist-related group that has threatened to kill them if Japan does not withdraw its troops from the country in three days.
Arab satellite television station Al-Jazeera reported Thursday night that an Iraqi group named Saraya al-Mujahideen took two men and one woman hostage and is demanding the Self-Defense Forces troops be withdrawn within three days.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda told a news conference Thursday night that the government is demanding the hostages' "immediate release."