Hussein Fahmi Badr, who has been detained by Iraqi authorities, was quoted by the official as saying he thought Koda, a private citizen who did not belong to any nongovernmental or media organization, may have come to Iraq as a spy.

Badr said he was paid 200,000 Iraqi dinars (about $135) for killing Koda and engaging in other acts.

Hussein Fahmi Badr admits to beheading Shosei Koda (top right) on Iraq local television.

Koda was abducted in Iraq shortly after entering the country from Amman, Jordan, and a group linked to al-Qaida threatened to behead him unless Japan withdrew its troops from Iraq "within 24 hours" in a video posted on a Web site Oct. 26, 2004.

A decapitated body later identified as Koda's was found four days later in Baghdad.

Koda was the fifth Japanese to be killed in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. Two diplomats were killed in November 2003 and two freelance journalists in May 2004.

The Japan Times Weekly: March 11, 2006
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