Japan arrests five

Japanese police arrested five foreigners yesterday after carrying out their first raids in a widening probe of suspected al Qaeda activities centring on a French national who spent over a year in Japan. Police searched 10 locations following media...

Japanese police arrested five foreigners yesterday after carrying out their first raids in a widening probe of suspected al Qaeda activities centring 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.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.