Japanese militant who took part in 1972 Israel airport attack dies in Beirut

Kozo Okamoto, the Japanese militant who took part in a deadly attack on Tel Aviv’s airport more than five decades ago, died on Thursday in Beirut, the Palestinian group that had been protecting him said. He was 78.The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a faction that is the second-largest group in the Palestine Liberation Organization, said that Okamoto had been ill for a long time.Okamoto, who made rare public appearances since he settled in Lebanon after being released from Israel, was known within the PFLP as Ahmad al-Yabani, or Ahmad the Japanese.The PFLP said in its statement that Okamoto’s journey was “marked by immense sacrifices spanning for decades on the battlefields of struggle in support of the Palestinian cause”. The Palestinian group added that Okamoto “never compromised nor faltered but remained steadfast to his principles”.Okamoto had served 12 years in an Israeli lock-up for a May 30, 1972 attack on the international airport outside Tel Aviv that was thought to be carried out by members of the Japanese Red Army guerrilla group in a joint operation with the PFLP.In the 1972 attack, Okamoto and two of his colleagues arrived in Tel Aviv on a flight from Europe, then collected their bags, in which they had packed rifles and grenades, and opened fire, killing 26 people and wounding dozens.Japanese Red Army leader Fusako Shigenobu, left, and Kozo Okamoto flash victory signs in this 1985 file photo. Photo: AP