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December 30, 2005

Japan: Muslim Extremist Tried To Establish Islamist Group

Reuters have a story that a member of a Sunni group banned in Pakistan had entered Japan two years ago, in an attempt to establish a branch in the nation.

The newspaper Sankei states that a member of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) had entered Japan with a visa for "religious activities" in 2003 and, while at worship, told others he intended to found a SSP unit.

The man had entered and left Japan in 2003, but the paper did not give details of his subsequent location. The individual, in this thirties, had been seen at Tokyo mosques. He made contact at train stations with a 27-year old Pakistani trader from Yokohama, and a 40 year old Pakistani, a former bookbinder, who has subsequently been arrested on immigration violations.

Police are still trying to detect other members of the network, the newspaper claimed. There are an estimated 90,000 Muslims in Japan.

Reuters states that with troops stationed in Iraq, Japanese police warned earlier in the month that Islamists may tempt Muslims to become militant and attack Japan.

In 2004, several foreign nationals were arrested after a Frenchman of Algerian descent, Lionel Dumont (pictured right) arrived on a false passport in 2002. He stayed for more than a year in Japan. He is said to be involved with al-Qaeda. Dumont, described in the French press as "the invisible Public Enemy No. 1" was eventually arrested in Germany in December 2003 and extradited to France in May 2004. Time stated that Dumont slipped undetected in and out of Japan four times on a fake French passport, while also being on an international wanted list. He had also used his fake passport to visit Malaysia six times in the period between July 2002 and September 2003. While in Japan, Dumont had resided at the home of a Bangladeshi named Himu, who was a member of Islamist group JMB, and had links with 13 foreign nationals, including Bangladeshis and Pakistanis in Niigata, Gunma, Saitama, Kanagawa and Tokyo.

Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) was originally formed in the Punjab region of Pakistan, as the Anjuman Sipah-e-Sahaba in September 1985. According to one paper, the SSP has a branch in Britain,in the Mufti Mustafa Mosque, 11-13, St George Road, Forest Hill, London.

SSP is one of the groups listed in October by the UK Government as proscribed. It is violently anti-Shia in its outlook, and conforms to the hardline Sunni doctrine of the Deobandi.

SSP calls for Shias to be declared "non-Muslims" and has attempted to assassinate Shia leaders. Shias comprise about 20% of the Muslim poplation, with Sunnis being in the majority.

Following the attacks of 9/11, the newly-installed president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, became an official partner in the "War on Terror" and outlawed SSP with six other extremist groups on January 12, 2002.

SSP's response was to reinvent itself - renaming itself Millat-i-Islami in August 2002. It has a "sister group" - Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, which was founded in 1995 and has been involved in attempts to assassinate Colonel Gaddafi of Libya. This group is apparently behind current threats against Christians at Sangla Hill in Pakistan, and was responsible for the kidnapping and beheading of US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.

Keywords: Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Lashkar-i Jhangvi, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at December 30, 2005 2:51 PM

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