Government's insistence on SDF dispatch delays freeing hostages in Iraq: JCP lawmaker
At a House of Councilors committee meeting held on April 12 to discuss the issue of the three Japanese taken hostage in Iraq , Iwasa Emi on behalf of the Japanese Communist Party urged Foreign Minister Kawaguchi Yoriko to retract part of her message sent to Iraq justifying the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq.
Kawaguchi, ignoring repeated requests from the hostages' families that that part be deleted, sent the massage via Iraq's news agency and other media on April 10.
Iwasa blamed the hostage-takers for the outrage that cannot be justified under any pretexts. Then she pointed out that the public is indignant at the government which is making light of the hostages' lives.
Saying, "The harder the government tries to justify the SDF dispatch, the longer its solution requires," Iwasa demanded that the government accept the demands of the families and give top priority to secure the three youths' lives. (end)
