Video apparently of Japanese hostage surfaces with message to family
Source: Reuters
A video surfaced on Thursday appearing to show a missing Japanese journalist, reportedly held by an al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, reading a message to his family and country.
"Hello, I am Jumpei Yasuda. Today is my birthday, 16 March," the bearded man said on the video, posted on Facebook.
The man, sitting at a table in front of a white wall, said he missed his family but could not be with them. The man, who was dressed in a dark sweater with a scarf, mostly seemed calm as he spoke in English in the one-minute video but occasionally paused with emotion.
Japanese media said Yasuda was captured by Nusra Front after entering Syria from Turkey in June. Public broadcaster NHK said it had spoken by phone with the man who posted the video, who said he had received it from someone seeking Yasuda's release.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the man in the video appeared to be Yasuda
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-japan-hostage-idUSKCN0WJ010
Wow! Hope....
