40-yr-old Japanese man 'kidnapped' in Afghanistan: gov't spokesman+

TOKYO, April 2 Kyodo -
A Japanese journalist who has gone missing in Afghanistan has been kidnapped,
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said Friday, but declined to elaborate
on the circumstances, citing humanitarian reasons.
''While I'm aware that he has been kidnapped, I want to refrain from commenting
due to various humanitarian considerations,'' the top government spokesman said
at a news conference.
The whereabouts of Kosuke Tsuneoka, 40, had been confirmed up until around
Thursday, but he went missing after heading to Kunduz in northern Afghanistan,
a government source said.
An acquaintance of Tsuneoka said an Afghan who was working as an assistant to
the Tokyo resident sent an e-mail to another journalist on Thursday saying he
had been kidnapped.
According to the person who received the e-mail, Tsuneoka disappeared while
staying in Kunduz to interview a Taliban leader, but no ransom has been
demanded.
According to Twitter messages believed to have been posted by Tsuneoka, he was
in Kabul on March 29 and entered an area controlled by the Taliban in the early
hours of March 31. Some messages included references to Tsuneoka's strong
interest in the Taliban.
A Taliban spokesman reached by Kyodo News denied involvement in his disappearance.
''We have heard rumors of a foreigner disappearing in Kunduz in northern
Afghanistan. However, the Taliban have no knowledge or involvement in it,''
Zabihullah Mujahid said over the telephone.
The security chief of Kunduz, Abdul Rehman Aqtash, told Kyodo News by phone
that no incident of kidnapping had been reported in the last three days,
although he too had heard rumors of the disappearance of a foreign national.
In his Twitter profile, Tsuneoka describes himself as a freelance journalist
reporting for magazines, television and other media organizations.
A separate website carrying a profile of Tsuneoka indicates he is originally
from Nagasaki Prefecture.
Responding to a telephone inquiry by Kyodo News, a relative of Tsuneoka in
Shimabara, Nagasaki, said the family has been asked by the Foreign Ministry to
refrain from commenting to the media.
Meanwhile, a 72-year-old man who lives near Tsuneoka's home in Tokyo's Nakano
Ward described the journalist as having a frank and cheerful manner.
Tsuneoka had spoken of his visits to Chechnya and the former Soviet republic of
Georgia in conversations with the man, who said he last saw Tsuneoka in early
March.
==Kyodo
2010-04-02 22:46:59


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