The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Baghdad - Japan's Foreign Ministry says three Japanese hostages were handed over to its embassy in Baghdad Thursday morning. The three Ð two aid workers and a journalist Ð were abducted last week. Their captors threatened to kill them unless Japan withdrew its 530 troops from Iraq. However, there were reports Thursday of new kidnappings of Japanese citizens. Japan's foreign minister told the country's parliament that two Japanese freelance journalists were likely abducted on Wednesday. There is still no word on the fate of Canadian aid worker Fadi Fadel, abducted in Iraq last week. Canadian officials are trying to make sure his captors know Fadel is a Canadian. Cairo - An audiotape purported to be from Osama bin Laden offers a truce to European countries that don't attack Muslims and warns that the assassination of a Hamas leader will be avenged. Arab satellite networks aired the seven-minute tape. If it is from bin Laden, it would be his first since September. Washington - A failure to track terrorists and other structural problems were among the "mistakes" made prior to the Sept. 11 attacks, CIA director George Tenet said Wednesday. Tenet said although the agency was aware of Osama bin Laden's intent to strike, it was "unable to translate this knowledge into an effective defence of the country."
