INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Japanese journalist Jumpei Yasuda held captive in Syria by a terrorist group (AFP)Washington: A terrorist group has released videos of a
Japanese journalist and an Italian man held captive in Syria in which they appeal for their release, US-based monitors said Tuesday.The two
men - Japanese freelance journalist Jumpei Yasuda and Italian national Alessandro Sandrini - appear in two separate videos that are
nonetheless similar in their staging and were released by the SITE group, which tracks white supremacist and terrorist organizations.SITE
did not say which group was responsible for the videos.Both men are shown kneeling in front of a wall wearing orange jumpsuits while armed
men dressed head-to-toe in black stand behind them.Jumpei is thought to have been abducted by the Al-Nusra Front, a former Al-Qaeda
affiliate, in northern Syria in 2015.He identifies himself as Korean in the video but speaks Japanese, giving the recording date as July 25,
stating that he is in a bad situation and asking for help.Sandrini gives a different date, July 19, and says that it is his last request to
the Italian government.The Italian hostage was kidnapped in Turkey in October 2016 before being taken to Syria, according to reports in the
He is believed to be from Brescia and is said to be around 32 years old.
