Tokyo Exploring Talks over Japanese Detained in Syria

Cairo, Aug. 20 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government is seeking to hold negotiations through a rebel group in Syria to win the release of a Japanese who has been detained in Aleppo, northern Syria, by Islamic militants, informed sources told Jiji Press on Wednesday. Tokyo is exploring an opportunity to have the Free Syrian Army work as a mediator for the negotiations, the source said. In Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, a Japanese government official held talks with a senior member of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, which controls the Free Syrian Army, to discuss the release of the Japanese man, believed to be 42-year-old Haruna Yukawa from Chiba, east of Tokyo, the sources said. Yukawa entered Syria through Turkey in late July. After traveling together with the Free Syrian Army and another rebel group, Yukawa is believed to have been captured by the Islamist State around Thursday. The Japanese government is seeking multiple negotiation routes, the sources said. A senior member of the Free Syrian Army told Jiji Press on Monday that Yukawa is almost certain to stay alive. The member also said that the group is boosting efforts to exchange the Japanese man with an Islamic State member detained by the Free Syrian Army. END