Ansar Al-Sunnah says Japanese man has died from injuries after shooting

KUN0020 4 GEN 0388 KUWAIT /KUNA-NHL3 PPL-JAPAN-IRAQ Ansar Al-Sunnah says Japanese man has died from injuries after shooting (With Photo) TOKYO, May 28 (KUNA) -- Akihiko Saito, a Japanese security consultant who has been missing in Iraq since an Iraqi militant group ambushed a convoy he was riding in earlier May, has died from injuries after being shot, Japanese media reported on Saturday. The Sunni militant group, the Ansar Al-Sunnah Army, has posted on its website an image of what appears to be a dead man, whom it claims is Saito, along with images of his passport and ID card, according to Kyodo News Agency. In Tokyo, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi asked his aides in the morning to gather information to determine if the image is Saito's. The Foreign Ministry is trying to confirm if the image is that of Saito, but ministry officials said it appears difficult to definitely tell if the man is Saito, citing the need to recover his body for DNA testing. Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura told reporters after seeing the image that the ministry could not tell whether it belongs to Saito. "We will hasten work to determine if it was Saito's." According to Kyodo, a four-minute video on the website said Saito died from injuries after being shot many times, and a subtitle warned people against working with US troops, "The image shown in the video is our answer to those who are trying to come to Iraq to deprive us of our religion, territory and honor." The video does not say when the man died or where his body is. Saito's employer, Hart Security Ltd., said Saturday it could not confirm the identity of the man shown in the video. Saito had worked in Iraq for the British security firm, based in Cyprus, since last December. The militant group said on May 9 that it captured Saito, 44, after ambushing a convoy of 17 people, including him, near the town of Heet in western Iraq, a day earlier. Saito, a native of Chiba Prefecture, joined the Ground Self-Defense Force in January 1979. After half a year of training, he served in the GSDF's 1st Airborne Brigade. He left the GSDF in January 1981. Saito then went to France in 1983 and served in the French Foreign Legion for 20 years. Five Japanese have been killed in Iraq since the US-led war. Five others were kidnapped but later released. (end) mk.hm KUNA 281030 May 05NNNN