Japan Hostage Crisis May Be Easing

The kidnappers of three Japanese in Iraq said they will release them within 24 hours, the Arabic satellite news channel Al-Jazeera reported Saturday.

The kidnappers told Al-Jazeera they made the decision after mediation by the Islamic Clerics Committee, an Iraqi Sunni Muslim organization. It was not immediately possible to contact the group.

The network identified the group responsible for kidnapping as the "Mujahedeen Squadrons." It said its source was one of the kidnappers, who was not identified.

This was in stark contrast to developments earlier Saturday, when Japan's hostage crisis had intensified, as hundreds of demonstrators called on Tokyo to withdraw its troops from Iraq to save the lives of kidnapped Japanese civilians.

This, as Vice President Cheney arrived for a visit urging Japan to stand firm against terrorist demands.

Ahead of what had been a looming Sunday deadline given by the captors for Japan to pull its soldiers out of Iraq or suffer the execution of the three captives, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi had been keeping a low profile, not making any public appearances or remarks to the media. He had declined requests by the families of the hostages for a meeting.

Ruling party officials had vowed not to give in to terrorists and reiterated that Japanese soldiers would continue their humanitarian mission in Iraq. On Friday, Koizumi denounced as "cowardly" the Iraqi captors' threat to burn the three civilian hostages alive unless Tokyo gives in.

About 1,000 anti-war activists rallied in the capital Saturday to win the release of Noriaki Imai, 18, and Nahoko Takato, 34, both of whom are aid workers; and freelance journalist Soichiro Koriyama, 32.

"Free the hostages! Withdraw the Self-Defense Forces!" activists shouted, using the official name for Japan's military, as a crowd gathered in front of the prime minister's official residence. Others held placards saying "Bring them home now!"

A few Buddhist monks dressed in yellow and white robes pounded on drums as the group faced a wall of police officers blocking the entrance to the residence.

A candlelight vigil in the evening followed Cheney's arrival on the first stop of a regional tour that includes visits to China and South Korea.

Cheney is urging two Asian allies with troops in Iraq - Japan and South Korea - to stand fast and not bow to pressure from kidnappers.

"Our will is being tested in Iraq, as we have seen in the heavy fighting this week. Yet as Americans, we understand what is at stake," Cheney said during a refueling stop in Alaska. "Our own security and that of our friends in the region are directly dependent on our success."

Koizumi has stood firm in his refusal to consider pulling Japanese soldiers out of Iraq. He had sent a special envoy to Jordan to coordinate Japan's response to the hostage crisis, but Tokyo knows little about the previously unheard of group that abducted the Japanese.

Japanese officials had been expected to ask Cheney for help in trying to locate the hostages and secure their release. Koizumi and Cheney are not scheduled to meet until Monday.

Relatives of the kidnap victims, meanwhile, had pleaded with the government to acquiesce to the captors' demands.

"If the way to resolve this is for Japan to pull out its troops, then that's what we want Koizumi to do," said Takato's younger sister, Ayako Inoue, in an interview with The Associated Press.

Inoue and the relatives of the other hostages said they had repeatedly asked to meet Koizumi but had been refused.

The Japanese public, meanwhile, was equally divided on the government's response.

Of those polled by Kyodo News Friday and Saturday, 45.2 percent said they opposed Koizumi's refusal to withdraw troops against 43.5 percent who said they supported it.

Kyodo surveyed 1,448 people and received responses from 971 people. As is customary in Japan, the agency did not provide a margin of error.

The hostages had appeared in a video obtained by The Associated Press showing four masked men threatening the blindfolded captives with guns and knives.

Al-Jazeera also received the video Thursday and said it was accompanied by a statement saying the hostages would be burned alive if Japan's troops were not pulled from Iraq within three days.

Sentiment runs strong in Japan against the country's first participation in a combat zone since World War II.

Cheney had been expected to urge Koizumi to press ahead with plans to send up to 1,100 troops to Iraq this year, but the hostage-taking could have changed the dynamics of the meeting, U.S. aides said.

Japan has about 530 ground troops in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah. They are part of a total planned deployment of 1,100 soldiers for a mission to purify water and carry out other reconstruction tasks.

Koizumi's decision to stand with the Bush administration on Iraq created his deepest crisis since he took office three years ago.

Critics said dispatching troops to Iraq violates Japan's pacifist constitution, which bans the use of force to resolve international disputes. Many Japanese also said they feared the troops could come under attack and suffer casualties, something Japan's military has not experienced since 1945.