Japanese journalist captured in Syria three years ago freed - Japanese govt

TOKYO (Reuters) - A man believed to be a Japanese freelance journalist captured three years ago in Syria has been released, a Japanese government spokesman said on Tuesday.

"We received information from Qatar that Mr. Jumpei Yasuda had been released," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.

Suga said the government was making checks to confirm the released man really was Yasuda. But it was highly likely that that was the case, and his wife had been notified.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka, Nobuhiro Kubo; editing by John Stonestreet)