Japan seeking information after reports Japanese journalist held hostage in Syria

TheJapanesegovernmentisseekinginformationafterreportsaJapanesefreelancejournalistisbeingheldhostageinSyriaandhasbeenthreatenedwithexecution,ChiefCabinetSecretaryYoshihideSugasaidonThursday.

Paris-basedReportersWithoutBorders(RSF)saidthisweekithadreceivedinformationthatanarmedgroupholdingjournalistYasudaJumpeihostagehadstartedacountdownforanunspecifiedransomtobepaidandhadthreatenedtoexecuteorsellhimtoanothergroupiftheirdemandswerenotmet.

RSFsaidinastatementonitswebsitethatYasudawaskidnappedinJulybyanarmedgroupinanareacontrolledbythemilitantNusraFront,alQaeda'sSyriawing,shortlyafterenteringSyriaearlierthatmonth.

IturgedtheJapanesegovernmenttodowhatwasneededtosaveYasuda.

SugasaidtheJapanesegovernmentknewofthecasebutwasnotawareofanyfreshdevelopments.

"Giventhenatureofthematter,Iwouldliketorefrainfromcommentingondetails,"hetoldaregularnewsconference.

"Thesafetyofourcitizensisanimportantresponsibilityofthegovernment,sowearemakingeveryeffortandmakingfulluseofvariousinformationnetworks,"Sugasaid.

TheIslamicStatemilitantgroupbeheadedtwoJapanesenationals-aself-styledsecurityconsultantandaveteranwarreporter-earlythisyear.ThegruesomeexecutionscapturedtheattentionofJapanbutthegovernmentsaidatthetimeitwouldnotnegotiatewiththemilitantsfortheirrelease.

SeikoNoda,aseniorrulingpartylawmaker,toldReutersthisweekthatPrimeMinisterShinzoAbe'sdefencepolicyshifttoallowthemilitarytofightabroadforthefirsttimesince1945couldbeusedbymilitantsasanexcusetoattackJapan.

NodaishopingtobecomeJapan'sfirstfemaleprimeministerafterAbe'stermexpires.

LawsenactedinSeptemberwillallowJapaneseforcestohelpfriendlycountries,suchastheUnitedStates,underattackbasedontheAbeadministration'sreinterpretationoftheconstitution.Suchcollectiveself-defencewasbannedbypreviousgovernmentsasaviolationofthepost-warcharter.