Japan says it remains committed to its Iraqi mission despite the apparent kidnapping of three Japanese nationals by armed Iraqi insurgents.

The captors threatened on Thursday to burn the two Japanese men and one woman to death unless Tokyo pulled its troops out of Iraq in three days.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said there is no reason to withdraw from the Persian Gulf nation ... calling the abductions "unforgivable."

Television footage released Thursday of the three terrified and blindfolded captives being held by screaming militants triggered a national vigil and threatened to sap already weak domestic support for Japan's troop deployment in Iraq.