Two more Japanese hostages were released in the Iraqi capital today after being held captive for three days.
The two men were handed over to a Japanese delegation at Baghdad's Um al-Qura mosque.
The two are believed to be freelance journalist Jumpei Yasuda (30), and Nobutaka Watanabe (36), a former member of the Japanese military with ties to a civic group. Both were posted missing on April 14th.
They were handed over to the Muslim Clerics Association, a Sunni group which has facilitated the release of several groups of foreign hostages in Iraq, including three other Japanese released on April 15th.
"Two Japanese hostages were freed and handed over to the Japanese charge d'affaires," said Abdel Salam al-Kubaisi, a member of the association.
More than 40 foreigners have been taken hostage in Iraq. Most have been released. Both Sunni and Shi'ite leaders have appealed for kidnappers not to harm foreign civilians.
Yesterday, a Canadian was delivered to a Shi'ite religious office in Najaf, and three Czechs were freed in Baghdad.
But several foreigners are still missing, including two US soldiers, a US contractor, a Palestinian, a Dane, a Jordanian-born businessman and three Italians.
A fourth Italian was killed by his captors who threatened to kill the other three if Italy did not withdraw from Iraq.
Last night, a videotape of a man dressed in a US camouflage uniform who identified himself as Private Keith Matthew Maupin was shown on Al Jazeera television. His captors said on the tape they were willing to swap him for Iraqis held by US forces.
The US military's Central Command said it could not confirm that Pvt. Maupin, 20, of Batavia, Ohio, was being held captive in Iraq.
Maupin and a second soldier, Sgt. Elmer Krause (40), of Greensboro, North Carolina, were have been missing since their military fuel convoy was ambushed on April 9th near Baghdad. They are members the Army Reserve's 724th Transportation Company based in Illinois.