Japanese Hostages Freed

Excellent news: the Japanese hostages have been released. Unfortunately, more may be in danger:

Koizumi meanwhile said Japan still needed to confim the reported abduction of two more Japanese nationals, Junpei Yasuda, a 30-year-old freelance journalist and Nobutaka Watanabe, a 36-year-old peace activist.

"We have to cope with the matter in a cautious and unified manner," he said.

No doubt. This would seem to imply a lack of coordination between kidnappers- why release some only to kidnap others- but it's sad that the tactic appears to be becoming entrenched.