An international organization calling for press freedom said Tuesday a Japanese freelance journalist who was kidnapped in Syria in July is still being held hostage by an armed group and urged the Japanese government to work for his release.
The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said it "calls on the Japanese government to do everything possible to obtain the release of Jumpei Yasuda."
The 41-year-old journalist went missing after entering Syria in late June from Turkey to cover the civil war in the Middle Eastern country. The Japanese government has yet to confirm the information that Yasuda has been detained.
"Those holding Yasuda have started a countdown for the payment of a ransom, failing which they are threatening to execute him or sell him to another terrorist group," the organization said, based on information it had obtained on Monday.
Those who helped Yasuda cross the border into Syria have said they had received information that the journalist was detained by the armed group on the day he entered the country.
The press advocacy body said Yasuda also wanted to write stories on the execution of his friend and fellow Japanese journalist Kenji Goto in Syria last January by Islamic State militants.
A high-ranking Japanese government official said Wednesday that Tokyo "has been working properly" on Yasuda's case and intends to strengthen information gathering.
A senior Foreign Ministry official said Japan has not obtained credible information on the safety of Yasuda, while a government source said "no significant development has been reported."
In 2004, Yasuda was held by an armed group in Iraq while covering the country after the Iraq war and was released three days later.
