New photo of Japanese hostage appears with message pleading for help
The Japanese government said on Monday it was doing all it could to secure the release of a Japanese journalist being held hostage by an al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, after an apparent photograph of the man was posted on the internet.
The photograph, apparently uploaded to the Internet late on Sunday, showed a bearded man dressed in orange holding a hand-written sign in Japanese.
"Please help me. This is my last chance," said the sign, written in shaky characters and signed "Jumpei Yasuda."
