Forensic experts have said the body of an Asian man found in Tikrit in northern Iraq does not resemble a Japanese hostage who has been threatened with death.
Doctors at Tikrit General Hospital said the body is of someone with a large build with dark skin and a moustache, and was probably shot well before the deadline to kill the Japanese hostage expired.
The hostage, 24-year-old Shosei Koda, was kidnapped by a group linked to al-Qaeda as he was travelling around Baghdad.
The Islamic kidnappers had threatened to behead Mr Koda unless the government in Tokyo withdrew its 600 troops from Iraq by yesterday evening. That deadline expired after Japan issued a firm rejection of the demand.
Japanese officials are hopeful that the young hostage is still alive, while the man's family has appealed to his abductors to release him.
