The hostage crisis involving three Japanese civilians highlighted the worsening security situation in Iraq.

The incident raised public doubt over whether the Self-Defense Forces should be stationed there under such conditions, but observers say an SDF withdrawal from the southern Iraqi city of Samawah is not an option because it would mean the government gave in to the kidnappers' demand.

They said the government should take grave consideration of the fact that Japan, a close ally of the United States, is a likely target for elements opposed to the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq.

On Thursday, a French journalist who was released after being taken hostage was given a letter from a group that identified itself as Saraya al-Mujahideen, the name of the group that kidnapped the Japanese.

"Our first target for kidnapping is Americans and citizens of those who participated in the U.S.-led occupation," the letter said, according to a satellite broadcaster of the United Arab Emirates that aired the news.

The Democratic Party of Japan and other opposition parties are expected to pressure Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration in the latter part of the current Diet session to withdraw the SDF troops due to increasing security concerns.

"We should calmly discuss whether the SDF dispatch meets conditions set" by a special law to allow its deployment, DPJ leader Naoto Kan said.

Middle East experts say the security situation is likely to deteriorate in Iraq in the leadup to the transfer of sovereignty from the U.S.-led administration to an interim government by June 30.

But Akifumi Ikeda, professor of international relations at Toyo Eiwa Women's University, said the kidnapping incident should not be used to incite calls that the SDF be withdrawn from Samawah in the coming months.

He said the area is controlled by Shiite Muslims. Sunni Muslims were believed to be involved in the trio's kidnapping and the fierce fighting in Fallujah against the U.S.

Ikeda said the hostage incident, widely aired in Iraq, unexpectedly gave the government an opportunity to tell Iraqis that the SDF is not engaged in the kind of security activities being undertaken by countries such as Britain, Italy and the Netherlands.

"More people (in Iraq) may have found out that Japan's SDF activities are focusing on humanitarian purposes," he said. "But some still see that Japan is taking part in the U.S.-led" occupation.

The crisis clearly revealed the need for the government to gain the Iraqi people's acceptance of the SDF's activities.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Friday the government will make further efforts to explain to the people of Iraq that the SDF has only been dispatched for humanitarian and reconstruction purposes.

Ikeda said SDF members should make further efforts to communicate with local citizens instead of shutting themselves inside their camp.

"It would raise voices (at home and abroad) on why they came to Iraq in the first place," he said.

As Japan's close relations with the U.S. would make it hard for Koizumi to withdraw the SDF troops from Iraq, experts say Japan should try to act as a mediator between the U.S. and Arab nations.

Isamu Nakashima, senior researcher at the Middle East Research Institute of Japan, said Japan might be able to play a key role in the Middle East amid rising anti-U.S. sentiment.

He said the Arabs might agree with U.S. President George W. Bush's idea to promote democracy in the region, but they are opposed to the way he is going about it.

"Japan can offer advice (to Middle East nations or the U.S.) without doing things that will cause them to lose face," he said.