Abdel Salem al-Kubaissi of the Islamic Clerics Association who played a role in the release of five Japanese hostages in Iraq criticized the Japanese government on Saturday, saying it "must be thinking that it would be better for the hostages not to be freed."
"The Japanese government is using the incidents as an excuse to justify the stationing of its Self-Defense Forces troops in Iraq," the Sunni Muslim cleric told reporters. "They must be thinking that it is better for the hostages not to be freed, for Japanese to be kidnapped and killed." He also criticized Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi for failing to credit the clerics association’s contribution in gaining the release of three of the hostages.
|