Al Qaeda in Japan
News reports suggest two small blasts at a US base outside Tokyo may have been rockets, and specualte about Al Qaeda in Japan. Why not? Japan is full of South Asians. Great place for unexpected flanking attack, a plave where Americans move around freely and GIs stand out like sore thumbs. Though South Asian and Middle eastern terrorists would also tend to stand out among the local population. Jemaah Islamiya maybe less so. You have to wonder how long a shelf-life a Far Eastern campaign would have unless they’ve linked up with homegrown anti-American radicals or North Korean agents. ABC’s Blotter:
Intelligence reports in Japan and Pakistan suggest al Qaeda has established a small but powerful presence in Japan, which leads some wondering whether or not today’s events are the first attempt at an attack by al Qaeda in Japan.
Pakistani intelligence sources tell ABC News they have had several reports that Pakistani militant organizations working with al Qaeda had established networks in Japan as far back as 1999.
A Pakistani intelligence source says these networks were set up following the direct orders of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the top al Qaeda leader who is now in U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay. Mohammed reportedly had a “deep interest” in conducting operations inside Japan.
The source also tells ABC News around two dozen Pakistanis had been sent to Japan on student visas in the late 1990s to set up “sleeper cells,” and those individuals had linked with operatives from the leading Indonesian terror group, Jemaah Islamiya.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 10:27 pm on Monday, February 12, 2007
Leave a Reply
Trackback URLYou must be logged in to post a comment.
