In her first public remarks about her ordeal, Nahoko Takato said that she was terrified of being killed by the gunmen who took her and two compatriots hostage April 7.

The insurgents said they would burn the three alive unless Japan pulled its military out of Iraq. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi refused, saying he would not bow to terrorist demands.

The three were freed April 15 through the intervention of Muslim clerics.

"I think it was natural that they didn't withdraw the Self-Defense Forces," Takato said.

She added that she had been well aware of the risks of going to Iraq.

"I prepared myself for the fact that I could die at any time," Takato said. "I acted after having reflected carefully."

Takato said she continues to think of the situation in Iraq every day and harbors no ill feeling toward Iraqis. However, she said that she was not sure whether she would return to the country.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 29, 2004
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