PARIS (Reuters) - Media freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders has retracted and apologised for a report it issued last week saying Japanese journalist Jumpei Yasuda had been threatened with execution in Syria.
The Paris-based Reporters group had said on Dec. 22 that it had received information that an armed group holding the journalist hostage had started a countdown for an unspecified ransom to be paid and had threatened to execute or sell him to another group if their demands were not met.
"The release was not drafted according to normal procedure and was not sufficiently verified. It has therefore been withdrawn pending fuller information," RSF said on its website.
"We ask Yasuda's family and friends, and the families of other hostages in Syria, to accept our apologies."
The Islamic State militant group beheaded two Japanese nationals - a self-styled security consultant and a veteran war reporter - early this year. The gruesome executions captured the attention of Japan but the government said at the time it would not negotiate with the militants for their release.