Last hostages return home | 日本のニュースを英語で読むならジャパンタイムズウィークリー


	UPDATE: Saturday, June 12, 2010 The Japan Times Weekly 2004年4月24日号（バックナンバー）

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Last hostages return home

Junpei Yasuda

Free-lance journalist Junpei Yasuda, 30, and peace activist Nobutaka Watanabe, 36, appeared relaxed and in good health, in contrast to three other former hostages -- aid workers Noriaki Imai, 18, and Nahoko Takato, 34, and photojournalist Soichiro Koriyama, 32 -- who arrived home April 18 looking somber and nervous, and were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Nobutaka Watanabe

The last two Japanese hostages freed by their kidnappers in Iraq on April 17 arrived in Tokyo on April 20.

Japan has repeated warnings that civilians should stay out of Iraq. The government announced April 20 that a team assigned to deal with the kidnappings would stay on alert for the possibility of similar cases in the future. Dozens of Japanese civilians remain in Iraq.

The Foreign Ministry has said it would send the five ex-hostages a bill for plane tickets and other expenses related to their return.

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