The passport of Akihiko Saito posted on the Web site of Ansar al-Sunnah Army, the Iraqi militant group believed to have captured Saito

The man, a former Ground Self-Defense Force soldier and French legionnaire, was identified on a militant group's Web site as Akihiko Saito, a consultant for Hart Security Ltd., a Cyprus-based security contractor.

Calling itself the Ansar al-Sunnah Army, the group posted Saito's passport and photo ID cards, one of which identified him as a contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense.

The Foreign Ministry confirmed that the passport was authentic.

According to the militant group, Saito was taken May 8 after the militants ambushed 12 Iraqis and five foreigners who it had learned were leaving a U.S. base in western Iraq. It identified the targets as construction workers and intelligence agents.

The militants claim to have killed all 17 except for Saito, who was severely injured.

However, Hart Security told Foreign Ministry officials that some of the workers ran off and survived the ambush, a senior ministry official said.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 14, 2005
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