Japanese police arrested five foreigners yesterday after carrying out their first raids in a widening probe of suspected al-Qaeda activities centering on a French national who spent over a year in Japan.
Police searched 10 locations following media reports last week that Lionel Dumont, who was arrested in Germany last December, was trying to build up a base in Japan to support al-Qaeda among a network of foreigners in the country.
Dumont, a French national of Algerian descent, is suspected of being involved in delivering equipment and funds to al-Qaeda during his stay in Japan after entering the country on a false passport in 2002, Japanese media said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Japan, a close ally of the US, stepped up security at key facilities after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington and has been on heightened alert since a letter purportedly from al-Qaeda said Tokyo would be targeted once Japanese troops set foot in Iraq.
Police said they arrested an Indian, a Malian and three Bangladeshis for violating immigration laws.
The government's top spokesman said he hoped the police action would yield clues about Dumont's activities.
"We have information that an al-Qaeda linked individual ... had contacts with various people in the country and was engaged in certain activities. I hope that the details will be revealed," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told a news conference.
"What is important for our nation's security is that we prevent an international terrorist organization from operating," Hosoda said.
Wednesday's action involved individuals with connections to Dumont, including a Bangladeshi man who police suspect has links to an Islamic group in Pakistan seeking independence for the Kashmir region, Japanese media said.
Kyodo news agency said the police also wanted to investigate their activities and cash transfers among them.
Referring to the Indian who was arrested, a police official said: "We are aware of reports about his links to the Frenchman and will try to find more about it through our investigation."
Television footage showed police at various buildings, including what were described as the homes of foreign Muslims and the office of a used car sales firm run by one of them.
Dumont, 33, lived in Niigata, northwest of Tokyo, with his German wife from July 2002 until September 2003 and traveled frequently between Japan, Malaysia and Germany, using the forged passport, media said.
Government spokesman Hosoda said he regretted that passport controls at the time failed to catch Dumont, adding that the government will review and tighten them.
Dumont made some 45 deposits and withdrawals, each involving several hundred thousand yen (?100,000 is about US$900), in a one-month period after he entered Japan in 2002, media reports have said.
Working with Pakistani colleagues, Dumont sold used cars to Russia and North Korea during his stay in Niigata, the Asahi Shimbun said.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and