The body has been identified as Shosei Koda. From The Scotsman, with thanks to Kemaste:
The Japanese government confirmed today that a decapitated body found in Iraq is that of a Japanese man taken hostage by Islamic militants earlier this week.The body found in central Baghdad yesterday has been identified as Shosei Koda, 24, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura told reporters at an emergency news conference.
Japanese Embassy officials in Baghdad had sent fingerprints of the body to the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo, and police experts had positively identified the body, Machimura said.
Islamic guerrillas had threatened on Tuesday to behead Koda within 48 hours unless Japan pulled its troops out of Iraq. Tokyo immediately refused, and the deadline passed with no word of Koda’s fate. The group has not yet made a claim of responsibility.
Iraqi officials found Koda’s decapitated body in Baghdad on Saturday. Associated Press Television News videotape showed the severed head with the hostage’s long black hair and features.
Hmmm. Japanese society and press enjoy levels of freedom comparable to those in the anglo-saxon world. (Dunno about socialised europe - places like Sweden, Norway etc where anti-discrimination and political correctness have muzzled press freedom terribly).
So does anyone know if videos of hostages grovelling and pleading etc found play in Japan? Did the terrorists calculate they could sway jap public opinion in this way? Gives a hint as to how they tough the terrorists measure the japs to be... If they've read their history books right (un-doctored and un-in-doctrinated history books in Arabia...??!!) they would know the japs can be bloody tough push comes to shove.....
The time has come instead of referring to terrorists as Islamic terrorists, guerillas etc that it now be the "ISLAMIC MILITARY". It far better describes ISLAM and its objectives.
After all they have had a military for 1500 years whether of the conventional kind or just plain smaller bands of terrorists. They all had the SAME OBJECTIVE of conquering and implementing ISLAM IDEOLOGY.
Our hearts are whit you in your pain!
Stay Strong this is an Evil enemy!!
Part of the American Tribe
Squirrel Hunter
Spider Killer
God Bless the USA and her Fighting Forces and ALL who Fight with her give them Strength,Wisdom,Sight and Corage to stay the course to Victory to Defeat ALL Islamic Terrorist and ALL who Support them Open the Worlds Eyes to their Threat Amen
Voletti, according to Asahi Shimbun, the video was aired on Japanese television. That is how Koda's family discovered that he was in Iraq. The sad thing is, he was riding on a bus with other Iraqis, and they all tried to hide him to prevent him from being noticed. Unfortunately, while going through customs, he was spotted. Poor thing, he was very young. My heart breaks for his poor family.
The Japanese press is reporting that Koda's body was found
wrapped in an American flag:
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=317385
Koda's body wrapped in U.S. flag, dumped on sidewalk
Sunday, October 31, 2004 at 22:11 JST
BAGHDAD — The decapitated body of 24-year-old Japanese backpacker Shosei Koda, wrapped in a U.S. flag, was dumped on a sidewalk near what is known as a stronghold of anti-American insurgents in central Baghdad on Saturday night, according to local police.
The body was clad in a T-shirt and a pair of dark-blue jeans when a local police officer found it on a sidewalk behind a hospital near Haifa Street. The victim's severed head was also found at the site, the police said. (Kyodo News)
(Back to me)
One commenter said the head was wrapped, but the news
story text said the body was.
It's a sad story in many ways. Koda had finished a work-visa
stay (New zealand? Australia?), and decided to go backpacking
in Iraq. He was advised, begged, and warned not to go into
Iraq. He was low on cash, was refused lodging in Iraq hotels
(perhaps it was too dangerous to put him up), and because of
Ramadan week he wasn't able to connect with a bus ride (the
daily route was reduced to once-a-week or something). He was
last seen going off in search of a bus ride out of iraq with a
taxi driver, who may simply have abducted and sold him.
The above paragraph is entire hearsay, what my wife told me
from her listening to the Japanese broadcast. The story is
getting massive play here (I'm in Nagoya) but mixed with the
outrage is disbelief at this incredibly naive backpacker.
Hard to say how this plays to the general public, blaming
Koizumi, or the US, Koda, or the murderers.
Isshi, in Nagoya.
I'm now convinced that all the beheadings in the name of Islam are just part of the "Blood lust" mindset formed by over exposure to the Quran and Muhammeds obsession for killing Gods children for Allah.
Just last night I watched a Muslim cleric try to explain away the comment by the President of an Islamic Org. that said on public TV that "All Israelis over 18 are valid targets for murder by suicide bombers because of the mandatory service policy in Israel",he defended the comment by explaining that Islam allows violence through resistance from foreign occupation.
The Cleric also claimed that all Muslims around the world have a duty during Ramadan to support Palestinian struggles to defeat the occupier of their land. So now the truth comes out,if all Israelis over 18 are guilty of crimes against Islam,then all Muslims are guilty of supporting a genocide against the Jews to wipe them off the planet.
It's truely amazing how the Muslim brain works,when they kill for Allah it's to protect Islam from the enemy,when a Muslim is killed while killing others that too is seen as an attack on Islam that deserves a response of war on the infidels.
Islam is not a religion,all the recent events show it to be the fabrication of a psychopath and misogenistic pedophile,Muhammeds voices in his head were his own desires to be God and rule the world which exalted HIM as the head of the "Death-cult" that murders any opposition.
NO ISLAM - KNOW PEACE
Isshi, in Nagoya.
Posted by: Isshi at October 31, 2004 12:55 PM
I HOPE THAT THE JAPANESE BLAME THE EVIL MONSTERS WHO DID THIS THING!!
Yes the young man was silly but you can blame the Lib press for that for they have misimformed the People around the world about this threat!!
Part of the American Tribe
Squirrel Hunter
Spider Killer
God Bless the USA and her Fighting Forces and ALL who Fight with her give them give them Strength and Courage to stay the course to Victory to Defeat ALL Islamic Terrorist and ALL who Support them Open the Worlds Eyes to their Threat Amen
I know the media wants to be as accurate as possible when reporting beheading in Iraq,but when they refuse to believe a headless Asian
body found on the street just might be the Japanese man the Islamists said they would kill,makes you wonder if the streets are so littered with dead Asians without heads that fingerprints are needed to confirm the ID.
Com'on guys,stop being so PC about not wanting to offend Muslims,the days of denying Islam is connected to the beheadings or the 9/11 slaughter
are long gone.
Most intelligent people see the patern and know to expect the standard denial and paranoic response to scream "Racism" and "Islamophobia"
to any public comments dealing with the truth
on Jihadists and Quranic verses backing the murdering of non-Muslims.
Wake-up Muslims,we know about the scam and
you're actually entertaining when you act like the trained seal barking for a fish after following orders from Muhammed.
Commisserations to Koda's family and the Japanese people for their loss.
The beheading of an innocent Japanese man - not long after the slaughter in Iraq of Nepalese and Filipino workers - underlines that ALL non-muslims are targeted by the Global Jihad.
According to the Koran, Christians and Jews are supposed to get some respect as fellow 'People of the Book' - and look how they're actually treated in muslim countries!
Everyone else - Hindus, Sikhs, Shinto, Buddhists, atheists etc - are just 'pagans' to be exterminated by muslims whenever possible.
A Global Jihad against non-believers can only be countered by a Global ANTI-Jihad - which means all races and faiths worldwide must co-operate and work together to eradicate this menace to world peace and co-existence.
Isshi - good to see at least one Japanese among us. Welcome!
As a response to this,the japanese government should deport all muslims and close down/demolish all mosques in Japan,within 48 hours.
I doubt that anything like this will happen,and so ,the beheading will remain unpunished,which in turn will send the message to the muslims that they can and will get away with anything.