Japan says has received info that national captured in Syria

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s foreign ministry said on Monday that it had received information that a Japanese national was captured in northern Syria and is now collecting and analysing the information.

A ministry official had said earlier that the government was looking into reports that a Japanese man had been captured by Islamist militants in Syria.

A video clip posted on YouTube shows a man lying on the ground being questioned by unidentified persons and responding that he is Japanese and that his name is Haruna Yukawa.

The name is the same as that of a chief executive of a self-described private mercenary and security firm. No one answered the telephone at the Tokyo-based company.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Chris Gallagher)