Iraqis react to kidnapping of Japanese national

Iraqis, especially residents of Samawa which is controlled by a Japanese contingent, are furious over the kidnapping of the Japanese national Shosei Koda on Tuesday by Al-Qaeda operative Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi’s Unity and Jihad organisation.

Samawa Police Department spokesman Raid Mahdi said, "We are trying to protect the Japanese who are our brothers and friends. They are here to provide stability in the region. They have supported our town in every means such as education, road construction, water and power supplies. What has been done to a Japanese citizen in Iraq is totally wrong, both for Japan and Iraqis."

"It is no good. Japan is helping Iraqis. They protect our porous borders. They build hospitals. Such a wrongdoing against them is totally unacceptable," Abduljabbar Abu Sowaida, a Samawa resident said.

Adnan Ahmad Muhammad defines the kidnappers as "miserable". He said "Those who kidnapped this young man are a bunch of miserable, mean people. It should not have been done to the people of a country which has done many a good things for Iraq. They built hospitals, schools. They set up the water network. We are grateful to them."

"The people of Samawa live in peace. They are against the war. The kidnappers try to shatter this environment of peace," Hussein Abbudi said.