Copies of Mainichi newspaper's extra edition are handed out on a street in Tokyo after a report that a Japanese hostage was beheaded in Iraq. Copies of Mainichi newspaper's extra edition are handed out on a street in Tokyo after a report that a Japanese hostage was beheaded in Iraq.Parents of beheaded man in shock
NOGATA, Fukuoka -- The elder brother of the Japanese man found murdered in Baghdad said his parents were unable to respond when a city official visited on Sunday due to shock.
Maki Koda, the 26-year-old brother, and his aunt met with an official from the local Nogata Municipal Government at about 11 a.m.
The brother told the official, "After being informed of what happened, my father and mother are in no mood to talk. From now on I will deal with officials."
The brother then read a statement he and his parents had prepared.
"We want to make an apology to those who have supported us as they have been concerned over the affair. We hope that Iraq will recover peace as soon as possible."
The brother is set to talk with Foreign Ministry officials over whether to visit the Middle East to recover the body of the man, Shosei Koda, or wait for its return to Japan.
Nogata Mayor Toshiaki Kono said that his local government would think about how to care for the Koda family.
"I have indescribable rage against those (who killed Koda). After talking with the central and Fukuoka prefectural governments, we will come up with measures to support the family," he said. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, Oct. 31, 2004)