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Japan steadfast after purported al-Qaeda threat
Tokyo, Mar 18: Japan today deplored a bomb attack in Baghdad that killed 27 people and vowed not to cave in to terror threats after a purported al-Qaeda letter mentioned Japan as a possible target.
Tokyo, Mar 18: Japan today deplored a bomb attack in Baghdad that killed 27 people and vowed not to cave in to terror threats after a purported al-Qaeda letter mentioned Japan as a possible target.
Chief cabinet secretary Yasuo Fukuda, speaking after a suspected al-Qaeda-linked car bomb exploded in the heart of Baghdad yesterday, said Japan would not abandon its efforts to help rebuild Iraq.
''Peace won't come to the Middle East without Iraq's reconstruction. Our country must continue to make active efforts toward Iraq's reconstruction without giving in to such base acts of terrorism,'' Fukuda told reporters.
Japan has sent around 250 ground troops to Samawa in southern Iraq for a humanitarian mission that could eventually involve up to 1,000 troops in Iraq and the nearby region. The Japanese are sharply divided over the deployment, which critics say violates Japan's pacifist constitution, but the level of public acceptance has held steady despite last week's bombings in Madrid that increased fears of similar attacks in Tokyo. The threat of such attacks came to the fore again yesterday when a group claiming to have links with al-Qaeda said its cells were ready for another attack and time was running out for allies of the United States.
''Whose turn is it next? Will it be Japan or America, or Italy, Britain or Oslo or Australia?'' The Abu Hafs al-Masri brigades said in a statement sent to the Arabic language daily al-Hayat. It said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were also targets.
Bureau Report
''Peace won't come to the Middle East without Iraq's reconstruction. Our country must continue to make active efforts toward Iraq's reconstruction without giving in to such base acts of terrorism,'' Fukuda told reporters.
Japan has sent around 250 ground troops to Samawa in southern Iraq for a humanitarian mission that could eventually involve up to 1,000 troops in Iraq and the nearby region. The Japanese are sharply divided over the deployment, which critics say violates Japan's pacifist constitution, but the level of public acceptance has held steady despite last week's bombings in Madrid that increased fears of similar attacks in Tokyo. The threat of such attacks came to the fore again yesterday when a group claiming to have links with al-Qaeda said its cells were ready for another attack and time was running out for allies of the United States.
''Whose turn is it next? Will it be Japan or America, or Italy, Britain or Oslo or Australia?'' The Abu Hafs al-Masri brigades said in a statement sent to the Arabic language daily al-Hayat. It said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were also targets.
Bureau Report