Press Conference 13 April 2004

1. Question concerning the whereabouts of taxi driver of the three hostages
2. Question concerning the alleged report on the release of the hostages within 24 hours
3. Question concerning the number of Japanese in Iraq
4. Question concerning the reported release of 12 other hostages

1. Question concerning the whereabouts of taxi driver of the three hostages

   Press Secretary Hatsuhisa Takashima: Good afternoon and thank you very much for coming to the briefing. Today, I have nothing to announce.

   If there are any questions, I will be happy to take them.

   Q: Have the Japanese authorities found the taxi driver who drove the three Japanese hostages from Amman towards Baghdad? If so, have they made an inquiry and met with him?

   Mr. Takashima: I have no information which suggests that the authorities have found him and questioned him. My understanding is that the search is still going on.

   Related Information (The Issue of Iraq)
   
2. Question concerning the alleged report on the release of the hostages within 24 hours

   Q: A press report suggested that the three hostages might be released within 24 hours time. That announcement was made two days ago. In addition, at the time, the Government of Japan said that it has several different sources of information which confirm the information. Can you please comment?

   Mr. Takashima: There were several sources which led to the same type of information. That means that the hostages might be released within 24 hours time. These sources suggested that they were going to be released and that there were those sorts of information. Our interpretation of the fact that they were in fact not released was that we do not know whether the original information was correct or incorrect. We do not know if there was any sort of problem which hindered the actual release. We do not know. We do not have any information or confirmation on those happenings.

3. Question concerning the number of Japanese in Iraq

   Q: Concerning the number of Japanese currently staying in Iraq other than the members of the Self-Defense Forces, the Government suggested that the number is around 70. Is there any change in that figure?

   Mr. Takashima: There have been reports that some Japanese may have left Iraq and went into other countries, but we do not have any exact figures on that. My information suggests that there is no big change from the original figure of around 70. I do not have any information which suggests a new increase of Japanese nationals staying in Iraq.

4. Question concerning the reported release of 12 other hostages

   Q: A news report suggests that the hostage takers in Iraq released 12 hostages. Do those reports suggest anything on the fate of the Japanese hostages?

   Mr. Takashima: We are aware of that press report, but we do not know why exactly the 12 hostages were released, who they are, or of what nationality they are. Those matters are still unknown. We do not have any information which suggests or confirms that the three Japanese hostages have already been released so we assume that they are still in the hands of the hostage takers. We are making utmost effort to obtain earliest possible release of those three hostages.