But at any rate, it is leaking out now that one of the Japanese hostages (the female NGO worker) Ms. Takato is now reported to have MADE CONTACT EARLIER IN BAGHDAD WITH AN AFFILIATED ANTI-US IRAQI TERRORIST GROUP CALLED "ARMY OF MOHAMMED". This is being carried in the Middle East press. The terrorist organization is said to be affiliated with the group that is new (one month old) in Fallujah, that claimed responsibility for "kidnapping" the Japanese the other day. Stinks to high heaven.
Further, the Yahoo Japan chat board on this topic (yahoo.co.jp) in Japanese is burning up at this moment. About one post every 30 seconds. And it would seem about 2 in 3 Japanese posters are saying things like "it's a set up!", and "something stinks", "Koizumi should not meet with these jerks when they get back to Japan" and "arrest the three when they arrive back in Japan for interfering in Japan's foreign policy" and "take their passports away and forbid them from international travel for three years because they are leftist troublemakers", and other posts questioning their leftist affiliations and their mysterious "kidnapping." There is a lot of speculation out there. (10:25 pm Eastern Time)
Understandably. I left out a word. It should have read, "you're NOT the only one wondering".
The site I referenced is run by an Iraqi dentist who is, at the moment, in the neighborhood of Sadr City in Baghdad. So, the questioning of the legitimacy of this whole thing seems pretty widespread.