Terror suspect may have visited 2002 World Cup

A Frenchman believed to be linked to the al-Qaida terrorist network may have been in Japan during the 2002 World Cup finals, when the country was on alert for a possible terror strike, a Japanese newspaper said.

France has told Japan that Lionel Dumont, a Frenchman with a history of violent crimes, may have entered Japan using a fake French passport as early as March 2002 and that he travelled from Japan to South Korea on June 18, during the World Cup, the national Asahi newspaper said.

Japan and South Korea, co-hosts of the World Cup, had tightened security to prevent a possible terror attack during the May 31-June 30 tournament.

The Asahi report suggests that Dumont visited Japan earlier than July 2002, when Japanese authorities originally thought he entered the country on a fake French passport.

Japanese authorities believe Dumont made several trips to Europe and Asia before leaving Japan the last time for Malaysia in September 2003, according to Japanese media.

Japanese police and Justice Ministry officials refused to comment.

An official at the South Korean National Police Agency’s anti-terrorism department said authorities were checking the Asahi report.

South Korean news agency Yonhap quoted a Justice Ministry official as saying that Dumont travelled through one of the country’s airports on two separate occasions but never passed through immigration.

French authorities have long linked Dumont to the violent Roubaix gang in northern France, which investigators suspect of cooperation with Islamic radicals.

Reports that he spent time in Japan first surfaced in the Japanese media two weeks ago. The reports have stoked fears of terror in Japan, a firm supporter of the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Japan also has dispatched hundreds of troops to southern Iraq on a humanitarian mission.

Dumont was convicted of a string of violent crimes by a French court in absentia in 2001 and sentenced to life in prison. He escaped a Bosnian prison after being convicted in the killing of a police officer and sentenced to 20 years. Dumont was arrested in Germany in December and was extradited to France earlier this month.

Dumont reportedly has provided money and equipment to Islamic radicals, including al-Qaida, and may have been in Japan to set up a terror cell. Dumont’s acquaintances in Japan reportedly describe him as a devout Muslim.

Last week, police raided homes and businesses allegedly linked to Dumont and arrested five foreigners – three Bangladeshi men, an Indian and a Mali national.