Japanese Minister Reveals al-Qaida Link
TOKYO (AP) — Japan's justice minister said Monday a "friend of a friend" who belonged to al-Qaida had entered the country repeatedly with false passports and disguises, a disconcerting revelation in a nation that fears its support of the United States makes it vulnerable to a terror attack.
Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama told reporters he had personal knowledge of how terrorists can infiltrate the country, citing an unidentified "friend of a friend" who was involved in a bomb attack on the Indonesian island of Bali.
"I have never met this person, but until two or three years ago, it seems this person was visiting Japan often. And each time he arrived in Japan, he used a different passport," Hatoyama said.
The minister added that his friend, whom he did not name, had warned him to stay away from the center of Bali, where bomb attacks took place in 2002 and 2005.
Hatoyama did not specify when he received the warning, nor did he say whether he alerted Indonesian officials.
Indonesian police have said the 2002 nightclub bombings that killed 202 people on Bali were carried out by the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah militant group. The Southeast Asian terror organization has also been blamed for the 2005 attacks.
Hatoyama's statement came during a press conference to discuss a new program to fingerprint nearly all foreigners entering Japan. The minister appeared to be offering the anecdote as evidence of the necessity of the program, which critics have denounced as a violation of human rights.
"The fact is that such foreign people can easily enter Japan," Hatoyama said. "In terms of security, this is not a preferable situation."
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said he hoped Hatoyama's al-Qaida connection would not re-enter Japan. "I hope he'll deal with this issue firmly through immigration controls now that he's justice minister," Fukuda said.
Tokyo's support of the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and dispatch of forces to each region have raised concerns that Japan could be targeted by terrorists.
"I know this may cause a lot of inconvenience, but it's very necessary to fight terror," Hatoyama said of the fingerprinting measures. "Japan may also become a victim of a terrorist attack."