Japanese journalist freed after five months in northern Afghanistan
Kosuke Tsuneoka claims captors were "corrupt military factions that blackmailed the Japanese government by pretending they were Taliban"
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A freelance Japanese war reporter kidnapped in Afghanistan five months ago will return home later today after being freed this weekend.
Kosuke Tsuneoka had been missing since 1 April, when a message posted to his Twitter account indicated he had travelled to a Taliban-controlled region of northern Afghanistan. According to the Associated Press , friends then received information that he had been kidnapped.
Tsuneoka's Twitter account then lay unused until last Friday, when a post appeared in English saying "I am alive, but in jail" . He was reportedly released to the Japanese Embassy on Saturday.
H
is Twitter account also features a message in Japanese claiming his kidnappers were "corrupt military factions that blackmailed the Japanese government by pretending they were Taliban."
Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders said today it was "relieved" to hear Tsuneoka had been freed and that it hoped his news will encourage the release of two French journalists who were kidnapped back in December and are still missing.
"This is very good news and, while we remain cautious, it reinforces our hope that 'France 3' journalists Hervé Ghesquière and Stéphane Taponier, who have been captives for the past 250 days, may also be freed soon," Reporters Without Borders' secretary-general Jean-François Julliard said in a statement on the organisation's website .
Tsuneoka is due to return to Japan today after being kept at the Japanese Embassy following his release.
According to national reports, a spokesman for the Japanese government denied rumours that a ransom had been paid for his release. In a report on its website Reporters Without Borders claims it was his Muslim faith which "appears to have influenced the decision to release him".
This is not the first time Tsuneoka has been kidnapped. He was also abducted in Georgia in 2001 and held for several months according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
