Japan vows to keep troops in Iraq

TOKYO – Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Sunday condemned the beheading of a young Japanese backpacker in Iraq and vowed that Japan would not withdraw its troops from the U.S.-led coalition.

The body of Shosei Koda, 24, was identified through fingerprint matches Sunday after it was found on a roadside in central Baghdad the day before. His head had reportedly been wrapped in a U.S. flag and left near his body. Koda, from Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, had traveled to Iraq on what he had described to friends as a journey of self-discovery.

Koda’s death appeared to further divide Japan over the country’s unpopular decision to dispatch 550 noncombat troops to Iraq in its largest military-related mission since World War II. Small vigils and anti-war protests in Koda’s name were held Sunday, and analysts said that the release of graphic images of the beheading may fan more domestic opposition to Japan’s mission in Iraq.

Earlier this year, five other Japanese kidnapped in Iraq and later released unharmed faced sharp public criticism at home for their recklessness in voluntarily traveling to a global hotspot. Koda’s lack of judgment in entering Iraq – he was reportedly carrying little money and was taking few safety precautions – has also become a target of criticism on the Internet in recent days, even generating harsh comments from the government officials who struggled to save him.

Koda’s grief-stricken family said it had received more than 50 phone calls from indignant Japanese critical of their son’s trip and the use of tax dollars to secure his release. After confirmation of his death, the family apologized for any trouble he may have caused.

Koda left Japan in January for a year abroad, starting his journey in New Zealand. Koda was last seen alive begging for his life in a grainy video released Tuesday after being kidnapped by a group linked to Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian linked to al Qaeda.

Opposition politicians on Sunday attacked suggestions by Koizumi that the one-year Iraq mission of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, scheduled to end in mid-December, should be extended. Japan’s pacifist constitution prohibits the SDF from combat-related patrols. The forces engaged in engineering and transport operations, and are currently being protected by Dutch forces.

Koizumi vowed that Japan would remain “resolute.”

“We cannot lose to terrorism, we must not yield to brute force,” he said. “I believe we should continue to support the Iraqi people’s efforts to rebuild their country.”