Recently freed hostage Jumpei Yasuda said that while he does not know the identity of his captors, he believes that his citing of words from the Koran may have helped with his release.
Yasuda, who spoke about his ordeal to an Asahi Shimbun reporter on a Turkish Airlines flight to Japan, traveled from Turkey to Syria on June 22, 2015, and was captured by terrorists the following morning.
While he was subject to extensive psychological abuse during his 40 months in captivity, Yasuda, who was released Oct. 23, said he had a gut feeling that the hostage takers would not kill him.
“Some took pleasure committing inhuman acts, but others were sympathetic,” Yasuda said. “If they really do kill (hostages), I suspect that would cause a split in the group.”
Read more at The Asahi Shimbun
