Body 'unlikely to be Japanese hostage'

A body found in Iraq resembling a Japanese hostage held by Islamic militants has been examined and is unlikely to be that of the civilian captive, Japan’s top government spokesman said today.

The government officials had announced that a body had been found in central Iraq that resembled hostage Shosei Koda and was being sent to medical experts for positive identification.

The body had arrived in Kuwait and was examined, but experts said it was unlikely that it belonged to 24-year-old Koda, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told reporters.

Kyodo News agency said that the body’s teeth, hair and time of death did not match up.

The body, which was reportedly shot in the head and beaten, was discovered a day after a deadline set by militants who threatened to behead Koda unless Japan withdrew its forces from Iraq – a demand Japan rejected.

While officials had been hesitant to confirm the body was Koda’s, they said the resemblance was strong and the 24-year-old’s family had been notified.

The Tikrit Joint Co-ordination Centre of the US military received an anonymous tip Friday that the body of an Asian male had been found halfway between the Iraqi cities of Balad and Tikrit and taken to Tikrit Hospital.

In a video posted on a militant web site on Tuesday, an al Qaida-linked group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi vowed to behead Koda within 48 hours unless Japan withdrew its troops from Iraq.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi quickly rejected that demand, saying he would not give in to terrorists.

Koda, who left Japan in January for a year-long trip starting in New Zealand, had told people he met travelling that he wanted to go to Iraq to see the country.