AP, via MyWay News.

Koizumi called an emergency meeting of his Cabinet and created a task force to coordinate a response as the drama unfolded and tested Japan's commitment to the U.S.-led coalition.

"We cannot give in to the cowardly threats of terrorists," he said. But he added: "We don't know who this group is. Right now what we need to do is gather accurate information and bring them (the hostages) home safely."

He also ordered a senior foreign ministry official to coordinate rescue efforts from Jordan. Koizumi was expected to make a strong request for help from the United States when Vice President Dick Cheney visits this weekend.

This weekend? Isn't that kinda past the 3-day deadline?

In a video obtained by Associated Press Television News, four masked men threaten the blindfolded captives with guns and knives as they lay on the floor of a room with concrete walls. Arab TV network Al-Jazeera also received a copy of the video and said Thursday it came with a statement saying the three would be burned alive if Japan's troops were not removed from Iraq within three days.

The kidnapping has put Koizumi under intense pressure and poses the biggest threat to his pro-U.S. policy on Iraq since two diplomats preparing for the mission were gunned down - possibly by thieves - near the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit in November.

Koizumi's decision to send 1,100 non-combat troops to Iraq in this country's biggest overseas dispatch since World War II has little support from the public, which is wary that Iraq's increasing instability could draw the troops into the line of fire.

It's a dilemma I'm relieved not to have... Is maintaining a token show of support with 1,100 soldiers worth three civilian lives? Which is more likely to hurt Japan: American accusations of "appeasement" if they pull out, or domestic reaction to the videotaped executions if they don't?