Edition: U.S. / Global

Cultist Hijacks Japanese Jetliner, Demanding the Release of Leader

Published: June 21, 1995

A member of the Aum Shinrikyo religious sect hijacked an airplane with 365 people aboard today and demanded the release of the imprisoned sect leader, official reports said.

Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama did not flatly reject the demand, but gave no indication that he would release Shoko Asahara, the sect leader who was arrested and jailed last month in connection with the subway gas attack here on March 20 that killed 12 people and injured 5,500 more.

The All Nippon Airways plane. a Boeing 747, carried 350 passengers, including seven young children, and 15 crew members. It had taken offf from Tokyo and landed as scheduled at the Hakodate airport, 425 miles north of the capital.

Initial reports were fragmentary and it was unclear whether anyone was hurt. A co-pilot or flight engineer was reportedly tied up, and the hijacker was apparently wielding a sharp, blade-like object that resembled a large ice pick. There were no indications that more sophisticated weapons were being used.

Officials gave no description of the man, but he reportedly said he was an Aum member and that his name was Saburo Kobayashi. The airline confirmed that there was a passenger booked under that name.

There is a possibility that the man was accompanied by several others, according to Hiromu Nonaka, the chairman of the National Public Security Commission.

An official at the Ministry of Transportation said the hijacker was demanding that the plane be refueled and flown back to Tokyo. He added that there also had been a demand for a pair of binoculars.

The event pre-empted almost all other television programming as it was broadcast on NHK television, the nation's public broadcasting station. Cameras showed a truck apparently refueling the plane.

It was not clear why the hijacker wanted to return to Tokyo.

Other unconfirmed news reports said the attacker had plastic explosives.

The incident is sure to fuel public apprehension about the sect. The police are still seeking a number of Aum officials in connection with the gas attack and other incidents.

There are also concerns that Aum members may be harboring guns and bomb-making materials, as well as more poison gas, although there has been no sign of that recently.

The hijacking is also likely to add to already growing apprehensions about safety in Japan which until the beginning of this year was considered to be among the safest places in the world. Since then, however, Japan has been struck by an earthquake in Kobe, by a nerve gas attack and by the shooting of its top police official.

Precisely because Japan has been such a safe place, its police force does not have a great deal of experience with terrorist incidents like hijackings. And it is not clear how effective the police are at commando rescue operations.

Because of the dangerous activities the sect allegedly engaged in, the police had been extremely concerned that the arrest of Mr. Asahara might provoke devoted members to take revenge. Many members still say they believe Mr. Asahara is innocent. He has refused to talk about his involvement in any of the killings for which Aum is being investigated.

A representative of Aum today denied involvement in the hijacking, and Fumihiro Joyu, a top official in the sect, said at a news conference in central Japan: "So far we cannot find the name of Saburo Kobayashi. If anyone related to Aum Shinrikyo is involved in this case, we would immediately expel him."

Prime Minister Murayama immediately announced the formation of an emergency group consisting of the chief cabinet secretary, Kozo Igarashi; the transport minister, Shizuka Kamei; and the Public Security Commission chairman, Mr. Nonaka.

The hijacking is another challenge for the Governnment of Mr. Murayama, who has been criticized for being slow to act in other crises, like the earthquake that struck the city of Kobe in January.

The pilot had activated an in-flight alarm known as the "hijack button."

Television showed pictures of the aircraft with the pilot visible in the cockpit. No one was allowed to approach the plane.

A Defense Agency spokesman said several helicopters and fighter planes have been placed on alert, as was as a squad of chemical weapons experts.

On March 31, 1970, eight members of the Red Army, a radical student group, hijacked a domestic Japan Air Lines Boeing 727 airliner carrying 129 people. They forced the plane to land in Seoul, South Korea, where passengers were released.

Since the subway attack, there have been special alerts in airports, rail stations and other public places over fears of cult retaliation. The cult claims it has been unfairly persecuted.

Mr. Asahara, the cult's leader, was reported to have confessed today to ordering the murder of a cult member trying to help others escape from the group. It would be the first time he has confessed to a crime.

Authorities said they believed that the cult, with some 10,000 followers in Japan, was preparing for a string of guerrilla attacks against Japan's Government and urban areas, in part to fulfill Mr. Asahara's apocalyptic prophecies.