Iraqi kidnappers threaten to burn hostages

BLACK-GARBED captors with guns, knives and swords threatened to burn alive three blindfolded Japanese hostages unless Tokyo removed its troops from Iraq, according to a videotape seen on Arab TV.

Japan said it had "no reason" to withdraw.

Eight South Korean missionaries who had been seized by gunmen outside Baghdad were later released in good condition, the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said. Two Arab aid workers including one who had once lived in Georgia also were abducted in a separate incident.