Daily Times, December 31, 2005
Banned SSP man plans base in Japan: report
TOKYO: Police believe a member of an Islamic extremist group based in Pakistan has entered Japan with the aim of setting up a base in Washington’s closest Asian ally, a report said on Friday.
A male member of the Islamic extremist group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) entered Japan in 2003, according to documents from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the Sankei Shimbun newspaper said. Police have discovered that this man in his 30s frequented mosques in the Tokyo area and that he told other people that he came to Japan to set up a launch pad for the group, the report said. The police arrested one of the Pakistani men who had contacts with him on suspicion of illegal overstay and has put other suspects under observation, it said. Japanese police are on heightened alert for possible terrorist activities and fear a move by the militant group to recruit members from Japan’s Muslim community and create a support network, the newspaper added. A police spokesman could not immediately confirm the report. Al-Qaeda has repeatedly threatened Japan, a close US ally that has troops in Iraq and hosts the largest US military base in Asia. afp
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