Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama Admits He Associates With Supporters of Terrorism

In a bizarre attempt to justify the fingerprinting of all foreigners entering Japan, Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama has told reporters about his association with friends of terrorists:

Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama, however, told reporters that he had personal knowledge of how terrorists can infiltrate the country, citing an unidentified “friend of a friend” who was involved in a bomb attack on the Indonesian island of Bali.

“I have never met this person, but until two or three years ago, it seems this person was visiting Japan often. And each time he arrived in Japan, he used a different passport,” Hatoyama said.

The justice minister added that his friend, whom he also did not identify, had warned him to stay away from the center of Bali.

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“The fact is that such foreign people can easily enter Japan,” Hatoyama said. “In terms of security, this is not a preferable situation.”

“I know this may cause a lot of inconvenience, but it’s very necessary to fight terror,” Hatoyama said of the fingerprinting measures. “Japan may also become a victim of a terrorist attack.”

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said he hoped Hatoyama’s al-Qaida connection would not re-enter Japan.

“I hope he’ll deal with this issue firmly through immigration controls now that he’s justice minister,” Fukuda said.

If Hatoyama has a friend with knowledge of terrorists visiting Japan, why is he not handing over this information to police? Frankly, I don’t really like the idea of having a justice minister who aids in the harboring of terrorists.

Update: Hatoyama apparently backtracked on his comments later that day, but he still admits he has a friend who is a friend of a terrorist:

Later at the Justice Ministry, Hatoyama said, “It was my friend who was given the advanced warning of the bombing and it was about three or four months after the incident that I heard the story from my friend.”

Hatoyama also issued a statement the same day denying any connection with members of al-Qaida.

In the statement, Hatoyama said that there are a large number of people who share his interest in butterflies including people overseas and he has been told that some of them were thought to be members of terrorist organizations and have entered Japan or were involved in the Bali bombing.

“I introduced these anecdotes as something I heard from my friend,” he explained.