The three have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder

The three flew in from the United Arab Emirates, where doctors diagnosed them with post-traumatic stress disorder, lawyers for their families said.

Elsewhere, three Czech journalists taken hostage in Iraq have arrived home in Prague to a jubilant welcome.

Speaking in his weekly address at the Vatican, Pope John Paul II has called for the release of hostages in Iraq.

The Pope appealed to kidnappers, believed to be holding 15 foreign nationals, to have "feelings of humanity" and free their captives.

"I am particularly close in thought and prayer to the families of all those who fear for the fate of their loved ones, especially all those who have been taken hostage," he said.

About 50 foreigners have been seized this month, although most of them have been freed.

Tearful

Aid workers Noriaki Imai, 18, and Nahoko Takato, 34, and photojournalist Soichiro Koriyama, 32, were released on Thursday.

They flew in from the United Arab Emirates, where they had undergone medical checks after their ordeal.

Reporters, television cameras and hundreds of onlookers gathered to greet them at the airport near the western city of Osaka.

But the three kept their eyes downcast and Ms Takato was in tears.

They arrived in Tokyo hours later to cancel a scheduled news conference.

Doctors in Dubai had recommended they rest, the families' lawyers said in a statement.

Reports that two of the three want to return to Iraq have prompted disbelief and even anger in Japan.

Their families later said the three would not think of returning to Iraq until conditions became safer.

Reported missing

Their return home came a day after two other Japanese hostages in Iraq were released to the same group of Islamic clerics who negotiated their freedom.

On Friday, Arab television broadcast video of armed militants holding US soldier Pte Keith Matthew Maupin, who had been reported missing along with seven American civilians and another US soldier, after the convoy they were travelling in was attacked on 9 April

A Dane and an American businessman of Middle Eastern origin are also reported to have been seized at the end of last week.