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Seven South Koreans detained in Iraq by armed men have been released unharmed, after they pretended to be doctors and nurses. The Foreign Ministry in Seoul identified the seven as members of a Christian group. They were said to be traveling from Amman, Jordan, to Baghdad when they were abducted.
South Korea has several hundred medics and military engineers in Iraq, and has announced plans to deploy more than 3,000 troops there by June. Earlier this week, two South Koreans were kidnapped in southern Iraq by a Shi'ite militia group. They were later released.
Iraqi insurgents also have kidnapped three Japanese civilians and are threatening to kill them unless Japan withdraws its forces from their country. The Arab satellite TV channel, al-Jazeera, Thursday showed videotape of the three Japanese captives - one is a woman. Japanese officials say one of the three is a freelance journalist, one an aid worker and one a peace activist.
Al-Jazeera identified the kidnappers as members of a shadowy group calling itself the "Mujahedeen Brigades." They were quoted as saying they will kill the Japanese hostages in three days unless the government in Tokyo announces a decision to pull its troops out of Iraq. Japan has 500 ground troops in southern Iraq on a humanitarian mission to help rebuild the country.
VOA News
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