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Japanese Ministry: Arab-Piloted Plane Could Slam into US Base

Published September 19th, 2001 - 02:00 GMT
Al Bawaba
Al Bawaba

Japan's government warned airline companies Wednesday there was a risk of an Arab extremist chartering a small plane to use in an attack on the US Air Force's Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo. 

"We received information from the US embassy that there is a possibility that a small airplane chartered by an Arab might attack the Yokota base," a transport ministry official said. 

"We have not received any further developments, but have issued a warning to airplane operators to pay special attention," said the official.  

The US air base lies 30 kilometers west of Tokyo. 

An official of the US embassy in Tokyo later said US aviation authorities provided "a hypothetical caution" to the Japanese transport ministry, adding that there was no "actual incident” -- TOKYO (AFP)

© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

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