| Submit your comments on this article |
| Arabia |
| Japanese Hostage in Yemen Freed |
| 2009-11-25 |
| [Asharq al-Aswat] A Japanese engineer freed after nine days held hostage by tribesmen near the Yemeni capital Sanaa voiced his relief at his release and said he just wanted to see his wife and take a shower. Sanaa governor Numan Duid said the release of Takeo Mashimo on Monday followed a pledge by Yemeni authorities that the case of a member of the kidnappers' tribe held without charge would be examined. As he emerged from a vehicle outside the Sanaa government building, Mashimo told a swarm of reporters he was "fine". When asked what he wanted to do first, he said in images shown on Japanese television: "I want to see my wife." "I'm relieved that I was freed unharmed. Thank you," the 63-year-old Mashimo told a press conference. Speaking to someone on a mobile phone, he said: "I'm all right. I want to take a shower as I didn't have one for nine days." Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama welcomed the release, which came almost a week after a tribal leader in Yemen had mistakenly said Mashimo had been freed. Related article: Japan PM welcomes release of hostage in Yemen "The Yemen government and the tribesmen did a very good job," Hatoyama told reporters in Tokyo, according to Jiji Press. Mashimo's wife, 63-year-old Kyoko, told reporters in Tokyo after seeing him on television: "I was relieved as he looked good." "I want to have him drink alcohol and eat sashimi, his favorite food," she said, according to the Kyodo news agency. Tribes in Yemen, an impoverished country awash with weapons and gripped by domestic unrest, often kidnap foreigners to put pressure on local authorities. Kyodo quoted the released hostage as saying by telephone: "At the beginning of the abduction, I felt very frightened as I was surrounded by many people armed with automatic rifles. As the days passed, I kept my cool." Sheikh Abdul Jalil, a tribal leader in Arhab, the area northeast of the capital where the kidnapping took place on November 15, had mistakenly announced the engineer's release last Tuesday. Tribal mediators had said the kidnappers were insisting on an exchange in which the detained Islamist member of their tribe would be freed. A security official said the Islamist was a "dangerous element who has fought in Iraq and Nahr el-Bared", a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, and was "difficult to let free". Hussein Abdullah Koub, 23, was jailed for a year by the US military in Iraq, before moving to Lebanon where he fought alongside Islamist militants against the Lebanese army in 2007, the official said. He was later arrested in Syria before being taken into custody upon his return to Yemen. Mediators said last week that Al-Qaeda militants had seized the hostage from his tribal kidnappers and moved him to an unknown location in the Maarib region of eastern Yemen. But the Japanese embassy said he had not changed hands or been moved. Mashimo is employed by a Tokyo-based consultancy working on the construction of an elementary school funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. More than 200 foreigners have been seized during the past 15 years, with most being freed unharmed. But five Germans and a Briton, who were seized in June in the north of the country, are still missing with no word on their fate. They were among nine people seized in the Saada region, the stronghold of Shiite rebels at war with the Sanaa government. The three others in the group -- two Germans and a South Korean -- were killed. Two Japanese women were released unharmed in May 2008 after briefly being taken hostage by Yemeni tribesmen. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #13 OK, back on topic. It's a pretty ignorant country that needs a Japanese consultant to build something as simple as an elementary school. Japanese |
| Posted by: ed 2009-11-25 11:10 |
| #12 don't know how this thread went this way, but if in San Diego - try Point Loma Seafoods - fresh-caught/not frozen. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-11-25 11:01 |
| #11 angleton where ya live in the North GA mountains? I need a guide too go trout fishing one day but the locals know where the best spots are without getting shot. |
| Posted by: chris 2009-11-25 10:33 |
| #10 ed, but it's frozen fast. Yep. And flash frozen tuna is good eating too. I ask the fish monger to get sashimi fish direct from the freezer and thaw it at home. As for the "fresh" sushi fish, very hit and miss where I live, though the shrimp is good. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-11-25 10:09 |
| #9 ed, but it's frozen fast. Friend caught a big tuna out of Venice (LA) and Japanese buyers were bidding on it as he reached the dock ($25 a pound, some years ago, for the whole fish). It would be flash frozen within hours and air-freighted to Japan. He didn't sell. I grilled some - it was yummy. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-11-25 10:03 |
| #8 The freezing was managed by Japaneese trained freezers and was suitably lectured on best afterlife practices before the freezing. |
| Posted by: Perry Stanford White 2009-11-25 10:01 |
| #7 Got bad news news for you Gromky. That tuna sashimi you have eating was frozen first as is all the other fish that is caught more than a day's boat ride away. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-11-25 09:01 |
| #6 When asked what he wanted to do first, he said I'm going to Disney World! |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-11-25 08:43 |
| #5 Anywhere not next to a fish processing center is going to get frozen fish, which totally destroys the taste and texture of sashimi. I say this as a snob, one of the few things in life I'm a snob about...I never ate it until I left America. Held my nose and tried it in Japan, and only ever had the real deal. Convinced myself I liked it finally (women and beer help with that). Went to China and had it - horrible. No taste, and about as springy as a mud patty. Went back to the States, and it was just as flavorless. I did go to a place in Houston that had the good stuff, but I looked it up specially and we drove for almost an hour each way getting there and back. It was so authentic, the staff snubbed us for being |
| Posted by: gromky 2009-11-25 08:23 |
| #4 Goodness, Angleton9, what brought that on? I must admit, it sounds delicious -- I'll have to get a pot to grow radishes in 'cause our lot is oriented just wrong under the trees for a vegetable garden. I already have pots for ginger and watercress, after all. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-11-25 08:23 |
| #3 meh, fuck it, gimme a cheeez berger |
| Posted by: Perry Stanford White 2009-11-25 08:17 |
| #2 Down Home Sashimi Recipe Ingredients : 500g Yellow Fin Tuna is good, must be as FRESH as possible( very important) Dont "saw the block of flesh, use a very SHARP knife, cut WITH the grain of the flesh into half finger wide slices. Very fresh fish such as tuna, salmon or trout. You can get good Trout easily...you might even be able to go catch it yourself. I live in the North Georgia Mountains and making Sashimi right at the campsite is too easy to pass up. The other ingredients are something you can pack in a small cooler and carry. carrots, no problem...take them from your home garden( you do have a home Garden , dont you? You dont? Why am I talking to such a person? If you dont have a Garden I dont want to be talking to you) Carrot Daikon Japanese soy sauce, to serve Wasabi, to serve Method : * Use a very sharp, flat-bladed knife to remove any skin from the fish. Place the fish in the freezer and chill it until it is just firm enough to be cut thinly and evenly into slices, about 5 mm in width. * Try to make each cut one motion in one direction, taking care not to saw the fish. * Use a zester to scrape the carrot and daikon into long fine strips or cut them into fine julienne strips. * Arrange the sashimi pieces on a platter. * Garnish with the carrot and daikon and serve with the soy sauce and wasabi. Brand: Wasabi Sauce Louisiana Gold On the Cutting Edge of Asian Cuisine - A unique blend of wasabi and peppers that provides the perfect flavor profile and heat level to compliment Asian dishes, especially sushi. This new sauce will lead the way in satisfying the growing demand for wasabi based products. Price: $3.00 You dont like raw fish? You havent trid it yet. Do you own a really good pocket knife? How are you going to clean fish if you dont have a good pocket knife? You dont know how to clean a fish? Jesus. There isnt much hope for you, is there? Daikon? Ask for it in the produce section. If you are in sudden need and you dont grow it in the Garden use White Icicle Radish. I use a sauce for my Sashimi to dip the fish slices while I drink a Heinekins..Sesame Vinaigrette based on a recipe from Martha Stewart's Healthy Quick Cook 1/4 cup rice vinegar 1 tablespoon honey 1/4 cup sesame oil 3 tablespoons canola oil 1 tablespoon water I also might add a single Oriental Ramen Noodle flavor packet. I am no purest, I am a Georgia redneck who likes Sashimi. And get yourself a good pocket knife. |
| Posted by: Angleton9 2009-11-25 08:10 |
| #1 It's a pretty ignorant country that needs a Japanese consultant to build something as simple as an elementary school. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2009-11-25 04:21 |