I would really like to apologize to you about what is happening in Iraq
now, and I would like you to know that Iraqis are doing their best to find and release
the three innocent Japanese hostages: Ms Takato, Mr Koriyama, and the young Mr Imai.

Please know that Iraqis in general have feelings of respect towards Japan, and they look up to the Japanese people who rebuilt their country after the WWII, Iraqi people believe in the Japanese cultural experience, and try to learn lessons from what you did and what you are doing now.

You must know that I have never met a single Iraqi with feelings of hate or aggression towards the Japanese people, and these kidnappings do not reflect in anyway the feelings of the majority of Iraqis, most of us wish that these incidents didn't happen, and that the first contact between our cultures didn't start by these violent incidents.

I hope that the kidnapers are just trying to draw the attention of your people, and I hope they will let the three hostages go back home safe.

I would like to ask you to put more pressure on your government to pull
out your Japanese Defence Forces from Iraq. Let the Bush administration handle and solve the problem with the Iraqi people. It is their responsibility. Don't give the Bush administration a fake international cover.

Please don't let your sons and daughters from the military die in Iraq, and don't start a terrible history of violence and hate between your people and our people.