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TOKYO (Reuters) -- Japanese police arrested five foreigners on Wednesday 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...

June 4, 2004 Friday Japan arrests 8th man linked to al-Qaeda TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese police arrested an eighth foreign national on Thursday in their nationwide crackdown on a suspected al-Qaeda network in Japan, officials and news reports said. A 37-year-old Bangladeshi identified as Shiddiqur Rahmann, 37, was arrested in Gunma, north of Tokyo, on suspicion of violating immigration laws, a local police spokesman said. "We arrested the Bangladeshi factory worker as we suspect the man overstayed although his visa expired," the spokesman said. The Bangladeshi man was the eighth foreign national arrested in connection with an investigation into Lionel...

NIIGATA, Japan (AP) - To his Japanese neighbors, Lionel Dumont was a mystery. When police and immigration officials asked about the Frenchman, Dumont's landlord had no idea who he was, even though the landlord lived right across the street and had only 36 tenants in his apartment building. "They showed me a black-and-white picture and asked if I remembered him," Jubei Sato said. "I couldn't place him at all. I don't think I saw him once the whole three months he lived here. He blended right in, never caused any trouble. But I found out after he left that he'd...

Here is the video. 300k. Cut, paste and view in your web browser. About a minute in length. Aired today in Japan. (In the URL, exchange "300" with "56" if you want to view at a slower speed):http://www.bcast.co.jp/cgi-bin/yahoo/news.asx?cid=20040527-00000020-ann-soci-movie-001&media=wm300kAn al-Qaeda terrorist cell in Japan has been under surveillance. It is now being finally broken up as we speak. Japanese national police have been raiding offices and homes of various Arabs and Africans in Japan, coming up with suspect A-Q members or facilitators. These cicadae are everywhere!One such terrorist financier suspect is a Bangladeshi, Mr. Islam Mohammad Him. Photo of scumbag:Here, in...

May 26, 2004 Japan makes first al-Qaeda arrests in dawn raids FROM RICHARD LLOYD PARRY IN TOKYO Japan made its first move against radical Islamic suspects today, when police raided ten sites and arrested five foreigners suspected of plotting to set up an al-Qaeda cell. The five men - three Bangladeshis, one Indian and one citizen of Mali - were arrested for alleged forgery and breaking immigration laws. But in briefings to Japanese journalists, detectives made it clear that they will be questioned as the country's first suspected Islamic terrorists. Apart from the Red Army Faction, a defunct group of...

Authorities detain foreigners over connections to al-Qaida network 2004-05-27 / Reuters / Bangladeshi man is detained on suspicion of violating the Immigration Control Law during raids on a house in Kawaguchi, Japan, yesterday. Police arrested three people, including the Bangladeshi man, in raids of about 10 locations thought linked to an alleged senior member of the al-Qaida network.(Reuters) Japanese police arrested five foreigners yesterday after carrying out their first raids in a widening probe of suspected al-Qaida activities centring on a French national who spent over a year in Japan. Police searched 10 locations following media reports last week...

French Al-Qaeda suspect 'hid in Japan after 9/11' TOKYO, May 19 (AFP) - A Frenchman linked by the United States to Al-Qaeda hid in Japan for about a year after the September 11 attacks, suggesting the existence of terror-linked networks here, reports said Wednesday. Japanese police suspect Lionel Dumont, 33, was involved in raising funds, money laundering and forming a terrorist network in Japan, all major papers including Japan's top-selling daily Yomiuri Shimbun said, quoting unnamed police sources. Dumont belonged to Al-Qaeda's logistics arm and Japanese authorities were shocked to learn that the country could have become "a breeding ground...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese police arrested five foreigners on Wednesday 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...

A senior al-Qaeda operative who hid out in the city of Niigata for more than a year may have been laundering money while in Japan, police sources said Thursday. Lionel Dumont, 33, a French national of Algerian descent, allegedly opened a postal savings account about a month after he entered Japan in July 2002 with a forged passport. According to the sources, the account maintained a balance of around 10 million yen, but it contained just several thousand yen when Dumont finally left Japan last September. Remittances of about 6 million yen each were often posted in the account to...

Time is GMT + 8 hours Posted: 19 May 2004 1330 hrs Frenchman with alleged Al-Qaeda link hid in Japan after 9/11 TOKYO: A Frenchman allegedly linked to the Al-Qaeda network hid in Japan for about a year after the September 11 attacks, suggesting the existence of terror-linked networks here, according to press reports. Japanese police suspect that Lionel Dumont, 33, was involved in raising money and forming a terrorist network in Japan, all major papers including Japan's top-selling daily Yomiuri Shimbun said, quoting unnamed police sources. Kyodo News agency said Dumont belonged to Al-Qaeda's logistics arm and Japanese authorities...

<p>TOKYO (AP) -- A senior al-Qaida member was based in Japan for more than a year, and investigators suspect he was trying to establish a terror cell, a media report said Tuesday.</p> <p>Investigators believe that Lionel Dumont -- a French citizen of Algerian descent -- used a fake passport to enter Japan in July 2002 and stayed here until he left for Malaysia in September 2003, Kyodo News agency reported, citing unidentified investigative sources. The report said Dumont provided money and equipment to the network.</p>

Yet again, `al-Qaida' has Japan in sights The Asahi Shimbun A group claiming to be the al-Qaida terrorist network took responsibility for Thursday's train bombings in Spain and warned that Japan, as an ally of America, is vulnerable to attack because of the ``war against Islam.'' ``Who will protect you, Britain, Japan, Italy and others from us?'' said the statement, sent to an Arabic newspaper in London, in an apparent warning to countries that supported the U.S. campaign in Iraq. Bomb explosions in Spain on Thursday killed more than 190 people and injured 1,400. In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo...

A senior member of the al-Qaida terror network told U.S. authorities the group had plans to carry out attacks in Japan during the 2002 World Cup soccer tournament, local media reported Saturday. U.S. authorities advised Japan of the information, which is believed to have come from the militant Islamic group's third-ranking official, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the daily Sankei newspaper reported, citing unidentified government sources. The attacks were not carried out because al-Qaida did not have a network in Japan, which hosted the 2002 event jointly with South Korea, according to the Sankei. The report said Mohammed was familiar with Japan....

<p>February 15, 2004 -- TOKYO - A senior al Qaeda member told U.S. authorities the group had plans to carry out attacks in Japan during the 2002 World Cup soccer tournament, local media reported yesterday.</p> <p>U.S. authorities advised Japan of the information, which is believed to have come from the militant Islamic group's third-ranking official, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the daily Sankei newspaper reported, citing anonymous sources. The Kyodo news agency carried a similar report.</p>

Al Qaeda Operative Threatens Japan with Attacks Tuesday, 18 November 2003, 11:39 pm Press Release: Al-Manar Television Al Qaeda Operative Threatens Japan with Attacks, Claims Responsibility for Istanbul and Nassirriya Bombings Turkish Prime Minister Tayyib Erdogan said claims that al- Qaeda carried out the synagogue bombings in Istanbul on saturday are being studied closely. The Turkish cabinet convenes to discuss the issue after reports the government had been warned in advance about possible strikes. An alleged Al Qaeda source also warned Japan not to sent troops to Iraq and claimed the bombings against Italian forces in Iraq last week. In...

PARIS, Nov 21, 2003 (Kyodo via COMTEX) -- Members of the al-Qaida international terrorist network warned Friday they will attack Tokyo as soon as Japanese troops are deployed in Iraq, Radio France reported. In a statement sent to an Arabic magazine, the al-Qaida members said they will infiltrate deep into Tokyo and attack the Japanese capital as soon as Japan's Self-Defense Forces troops set their feet on Iraq, the report said. The radio report said the members, admitting al-Qaida's involvement in Thursday's attacks on British targets in Istanbul, said in the statement that Japan will be easily destroyed and the...

A HIGH-RANKING member of the al-Qaeda terrorist network operated for up to a year in Japan before the attacks on the US of September 11, 2001, and examined potential Japanese targets, new investigations by US and Japanese security agencies have revealed. Security authorities believe the senior al-Qaeda operative was closely involved in planning the September 11 strikes that hit New York and Washington, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported yesterday. The operative was in Japan to raise funds and develop al-Qaeda's support base and also visited a number of Japanese public facilities, the investigators said. This suggested the group might have...