About 68 percent of respondents to a Kyodo News survey released Saturday approved of how the government handled the hostage crisis involving Japanese civilians in Iraq, and more than 60 percent feel Tokyo was right to not cave in to the kidnappers' demand that Japan withdraw its troops from the country.

The two-day nationwide phone survey, which ended Saturday, was carried out after the safe release Thursday of three Japanese civilians who were held hostage by gunmen for a week in Iraq.

The poll ended before Saturday's safe release of two other Japanese civilians who were taken hostage earlier this week near Baghdad.

The poll found that 68.4 percent of the respondents positively evaluated the government's handling of the hostage crisis, while 22.1 percent said otherwise.

It showed 61.3 percent said the government made the right decision not to yield to the captors' demand for a withdrawal of the Ground Self-Defense Force troops from Iraq. Only 8.8 percent said the decision was inappropriate.

As for the deployment itself, 53.2 percent of the respondents backed the government's decision, while 38.2 percent opposed the move. It was the first time for the support figure to exceed 50 percent in a survey since the GSDF troops were deployed in January.

In a poll conducted April 9 and 10, immediately after the three Japanese were taken captive, more respondents were against the SDF deployment.

Based on the latest results, analysts believe public opinion on the SDF issue could easily shift in light of incidents involving Japanese civilians or attacks on the troops.

The survey also found that those throwing their support behind the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi increased by 7.2 percentage points to 55.6 percent, while those who did not fell 6.8 points to 32.5 percent.

However, 57.1 percent want the prime minister to review his stance on the Japan-U.S. alliance, while 36.6 percent said such strong ties should continue.

In the event of a Japanese fatality, 19.7 percent said Koizumi should resign. But 58.2 percent said that while he bears political responsibility, he does not need to resign.

The poll also asked respondents about their thoughts on how the government should protect Japanese civilians who enter or remain in dangerous areas despite governmental evacuation warnings. The five freed hostages had stayed in Iraq despite repeated warnings of that nature.

The poll found 68.3 percent felt that that decision, as well as the responsibility for ensuring safety, should be left to the individual, while 27.5 percent called for such measures as a law banning people from traveling to dangerous areas.

The random survey had responses from 1,008 households with eligible voters.