The Japanese government is checking whether a body found by the US military between Tikrit and Baghdad in Iraq is that of a Japanese hostage, an aide to Japanese Prime Minister Mr Junichiro Koizumi said this evening.
Al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's militant group said in an Internet video on Wednesday it would behead 24-year-old Mr Shosei Koda within 48 hours if Japan did not withdraw its troops from Iraq.
Mr Koizumi, a close ally of US President George W. Bush, has insisted that Japan's non-combat troops will stay in southern Iraq.
The aide, who declined to be identified, said the body had been moved to a safe place and that it could take an hour or more to confirm its identity.