Tokyo, June 16: An alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in New York and Washington spent months in Japan apparently learning how to DIG rock caves for use as underground fortresses in Afghanistan, a media report said today. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, alleged No. 3 leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist group, spent three months in Japan around 1987 being trained to operate rock drills by a Japanese construction machine maker. His stay in Japan coincided with the afghan guerrilla war against the former Soviet Union. Japanese authorities believe he later used his training to dig caves that Afghan guerillas would use as defensive positions and hide-outs, the report said. Officials from Japan's National Police Agency and the Justice Ministry's Public Security Investigation Agency refused to comment on the report.

Mohammed was arrested March 1 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, and is being held at an undisclosed location outside of Pakistan.
He also has been tied to the April bombing of a synagogue in Tunisia that killed 19 people, mostly German tourists. Bureau Report