But the video, posted May 15 on one of the Web sites often used by the group, did not provide any fresh clues to the fate of Akihiko Saito, 44, who is believed to have been severely injured and held captive by the assailants, the Foreign Ministry said.

Statements by survivors of the ambush suggest the wounds he suffered may have been fatal.

The militant group, the Ansar al-Sunnah Army, had earlier claimed over the Internet that it carried out the ambush and said it would later show a video of Saito.

The six-minute video did not include any images of Saito. The group only repeated its claim with subtitles that it had captured "a Japanese who was severely injured" in the ambush.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 21, 2005
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