One of the two more kidnapped Japanese.(Photo: Ynet.com)

One of the two more kidnapped Japanese.(Photo: Ynet.com)

  ¡¡TOKYO, April 15 (Xinhuanet)-- Two more Japanese civilians have reportedly been kidnapped in suburban Baghdad, raising fears that the hostage crisis that has gripped Japan for a week following theabduction of three Japanese will worsen.

    Top Japanese government spokesman Yasuo Fukuda said at a press conference Thursday that the government received unconfirmed report about the two Japanese at around 12:30 a.m. (0430 GMT) Thursday.

    Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi also told reporters that the report is yet to be confirmed but he was aware of the information. He also commented on the killing of an Italian hostage in Iraq, calling it a "despicable act".

    The premier reiterated that Japan will not pull out the troops of its Self-Defense Forces engaged in reconstruction assistance efforts in Iraq.

    According NHK television, one of the two Japanese is believed to be Jumpei Yasuda, a 30-year-old freelance journalist. The otheris believed to be Yasuda's roommate, Nobutaka Watanabe, a 36-year-old member of the non-governmental organization Trans-Pacific GI/SDF Rights Hotline.

    The two failed to return to their Baghdad apartment on Wednesday, NHK said in its morning news report.

    The Japanese Foreign Ministry is trying to confirm the report of the latest abduction and continues to seek news on the other three, apparently still being held by an armed militant group. Dozens of foreigners have been abducted in Iraq recently.

    Japanese journalist Juichi Tabo, who is working in Iraq, received an e-mail from an Iraqi friend in the country Wednesday, saying the two Japanese had been snatched by armed kidnappers, Kyodo News reported earlier.

    The two were traveling in a taxi to take photos of a US military helicopter that crashed Tuesday near Abu-Greib, west of Baghdad, according to the e-mail.

    They were followed by a car, asked to pull over and then surrounded by three more cars. They were then seized by an armed group.

    The Iraqi friend was in the cab but was released along with thedriver. When confronted by the group, the driver said the two Japanese were Chinese, but the group noticed that one of the two carried a Japanese passport and figured out that both were from Japan, according to the e-mail.

    A security guard at their Baghdad apartment said the two had not returned as of 12:30 p.m. Thursday Japan time.

    An armed group has been holding the three other Japanese hostages since last week, demanding the withdrawal of Japanese troops from Iraq in exchange for their release.

    The three are Noriaki Imai, 18, a recent high school graduate; Soichiro Koriyama, 32, a freelance photographer; and Nahoko Takato,34, an aid worker. They left Amman on April 6 and were heading overland to Baghdad when they disappeared.

    The fate of the three and a dozen other foreigners remain unknown, though some kidnappings have ended up in the release of hostages, including three Russians, five Ukrainians, seven Chineseand a Frenchman.

    But Italian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that one of the fourItalian hostages in Iraq has been slain, confirming an earlier report by Qatar-based news channel Al-Jazeera.

    The group that took the Italians hostage is demanding the pullout of Italian troops from Iraq, Al-Jazeera said. The group isapparently different from the group holding the three Japanese.

    Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi vowed Thursday to keeptroops in Iraq despite the killing of the Italian. "They have destroyed a life. They have not cracked our values and our effortsfor peace," said Berlusconi.

    Meanwhile, the United States is attempting to determine if fourbodies discovered Tuesday west of Baghdad are the remains of US contractors missing since Friday.

    At present, at least 12 journalists from four Japanese companies in Iraq and more than 10 freelancers -- mostly photojournalists -- are believed to be in Baghdad, Japan's ForeignMinistry said. Enditem