Japan on al Qaeda hit list: French anti-terror judge
Paris: Former French investigating judge
Jean-Louis Bruguiere said that Japan is among Al-Qaeda's prime
targets for attack, while promoting a book about his 25 years
fighting terrorism.
Bruguiere, now retired at 65, also describes Pakistan as
the "cauldron" of terrorism and blames ex-president Pervez
Musharraf for failing to address the threat of extremists
during his seven years in power.
"Japan has become a prime target for Al-Qaeda," Bruguiere
told journalists late Thursday at an event for the release of
his book "Ce que je n'ai pas pu dire" (What I Couldn't
Reveal).
Japan's geographical position and, in particular, its
large Pakistani community make the country vulnerable to an
attack, he said.
The retired judge said he had alerted Japan of the threat
as he had done for the United States before the September 11,
2001 attacks.
"The danger nowadays is Pakistan," he said, describing
the country as a "cauldron" of extremism that was allowed to
fester under Musharraf's rule.
A 2003 investigation found Pakistani army officers were
acting as instructors in training camps run by the Islamist
group Lashkar-e-Taiba, he said.
Bruguiere led the 2002 probe of the Karachi bombing that
killed 11 French engineers who were helping Pakistan build its
first submarine.
Bureau Report