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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Bangladeshi man denies link to al-Qaida |
| 2004-07-28 |
| A Bangladeshi businessman on Tuesday sought human rights redress with a lawyers' group over what he called his ordeal in being linked with a suspected senior member of the al-Qaida terrorist network, denying the accusations against him. Islam Mohamed Himu, 33, became the focus of Japanese police investigations after the police found alleged links between him and Lionel Dumont, a French national who is believed to have been building up an al-Qaida base in Japan. "Anywhere I go, I am falsely branded as an al-Qaida member but I am not," a tearful Himu told Japanese and international media at a Tokyo press conference after filing a complaint with the Japan Federation of Bar Associations. Himu said he had business dealings with Dumont five or six times, including selling prepaid telephone cards and buying a digital camera for Dumont, but that he had no inkling about Dumont's alleged al-Qaida link. "To me, he was just one of my 300 to 500 customers. I don't have the right to ask (about) his private life," he said, referring to Dumont. Himu met Dumont in 1999 at a mosque in Gunma Prefecture, where he used to live, and knew him as a Swiss national named Samir. Himu operated two companies, one based in Tokyo and the other in Kanagawa Prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, both selling international prepaid cards. Himu said he had contact with Dumont from July 1999 to June 2003 mostly for the purchase of prepaid cards. In a separate news conference, Himu's lawyer, Takeshi Furukawa, criticized the investigators, saying, "The probe into Mr. Himu, who happened to have contact with the suspect Dumont, is simply to save face because they were unaware of Dumont's entry into Japan." Dumont was found to have lived in Japan for a year, mainly in Niigata Prefecture, just before being arrested in Germany in December in connection with an attempted bombing and other charges. But this information only surfaced this year. Often breaking into tears during his press conference, Himu said he suffered an ordeal during his 43-day detention. Although the charges against him were unrelated to al-Qaida, the police interrogations focused on questions linked to al-Qaida and Dumont, he said. Himu was first arrested by the Kanagawa prefectural police on May 26 on suspicion of forging official company documents. He was released June 16. On the same day, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested him on suspicion of hiring two illegal foreign residents in violation of the immigration law. He paid a 300,000 yen fine for his release. Himu said he still feels the effects of the al-Qaida allegations, saying banks do not allow him to remit money overseas and that business partners have cut him off. A resident of Toda, Saitama Prefecture, Himu is married to a Japanese woman and they have two children. |
| Posted by:Steve |