Japanese journalist confirms he's free after being held in Syria for three years

The Japanese government on Wednesday confirmed that a journalist kidnapped in Syria has been freed and is in Turkey.

Embbady officials visited Yasuda at an immigration center in Antakya in Turkey, and he is expected to return to Japan soon, after health checks.

Men walk past a TV screen showing a news program with Japanese Journalist Jumpei Yasuda.

AAP

"I've been held in Syria for 40 months, now in Turkey," Yasuda said in English in a video filmed at the immigration center, which was shown on public broadcaster NHK.

Yasuda who wore a black T-shirt and had long beard spoke in a steady manner.

Yasuda's wife My TV was appearing live on TV Asahi when Kono announced the news.

"Thank you … Thank you for praying for him and taking action," she said in tears.

"We have confirmed the safety of Jumpei Yasuda, who had been held captive in Syria since 2015," Foreign Minister Taro Kono told reporters.

"We are very glad he's safe."

'He kept his chin up'

Japanese officials said late Tuesday they were trying to confirm reports that the 44-year-old freelancer, who was seized in June 2015, had been freed.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters he had called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to thank them for their support.

"I want to see him in good shape." That's all I want, "Yasuda's father had told reporters earlier in the day.

"I do not know how he is now, but I want to tell him he kept up," he added.

Yasuda was thought to have been known to the Al-Nusra Front, to form al-Qaeda affiliate, in northern Syria.

However, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, led by al-Qaeda's branch in Syria, denied any involvement in a statement Tuesday.

Al-Qaeda's form Syria is known as Al-Nusra Front with the transnational jihadist network in 2016 and changed its name.

In August, videos showing Yasuda and an Italian national, Alessandro Sandrini, appealing for their release.

They were wearing orange outfits with armed, masked men standing behind them. The videos did not identify which group was holding the men or include specific demands.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said Tuesday that Yasuda was released under a Turkish-Qatari deal, with some sources saying ransom had been paid.

But Japan's top government spokesperson denied Wednesday any payment was involved.

"That kind of thing never happened," Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

In 2015, activists from the Islamic State group, head of Japanese war correspond Kenji Goto and his friend Haruna Yukawa in Syria.

The Japanese government has been criticized for its detractors as well as its flat-footed response to the crisis at the time.