The Asahi Shimbun, May 21, 2004
Al-Qaida suspect sheltered in Indonesia
A suspected French terrorist who entered Japan on the lam four times on a fake
passport was sheltered in Indonesia by Jemaah Islamiyah, an Asian terrorist network
with ties to al-Qaida. That's according to security sources investigating the case in
Tokyo and news reports from Europe.
After escaping from a Sarajevo prison in May 1999, Lionel Dumont, 33, a French
national of Algerian descent, apparently went to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Germany,
besides Japan, the sources said.
Dumont, a founding member of a radical Muslim group also linked to al-Qaida,
probably contacted members affiliated with terrorist organizations while traveling
between Europe and Southeast Asia between 1999 and late 2003, sources said.
He is now in the custody of German police.
Some other new details emerged Wednesday about the time spent in Japan by
Dumont, who was convicted of murdering a police officer in Bosnia-Herzegovina in
1997.
While Dumont was living in Niigata, he called himself "Samiru'' and was apparently
fluent in English and German, Niigata sources said.
On his first visit to Japan, Dumont met a 30-year-old Pakistani grocery store
employee in Isesaki, Gunma Prefecture. He introduced Dumont to a Pakistani
used-car dealer in Niigata. Dumont worked for the dealer, delivering vehicles to the
dock.
Dumont followed Muslim practices, praying five times a day and sometimes went to a
mosque, local sources said. He was polite to his neighbors.
"He often greeted me,'' said a woman who lives in the same apartment building where
Dumont resided. "He let me go first in the elevator, too. I can't believe he is a
terrorist.''(IHT/Asahi: May 21,2004) (05/21)
© Copyright 2004 Asahi Shimbun. All rights reserved.
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