Security services of Russia and Japan watch the religious sect Aum Shinri Kyo that was responsible for a gas attack in Tokyo’s underground, the Russian president’s representative for international cooperation in the struggle against terrorism and organised crime, Anatoly Safonov, said.
He led a delegation to Russian-Japanese anti-terror consultations that finished in Tokyo.
Safonov told Itar-Tass on Friday that the two countries’ security service exchange operational information on the sect.
The sides in particular discussed at the consultations how Aum uses money from its legal business, to conclude that it invests it in its enlargement.
According to Japanese mass media, at least 300 followers of the doomsday sect Aum Shinri Kyo still operate in Russia, mostly in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The Russian delegation to the consultations stressed the need for permanent “analysis of an object of terrorism” for timely pre-emptive action against it.
Links of terrorists and common-law crime are of special concern, Safonov said.
Such “tactical alliance” gives broad possibilities to extremists, he said.
The transport security problem was also discussed at the consultations.
The Japanese delegation demonstrated to the Russians the organisation of the security system at Tokyo’s international airport Haneda.
“The exchange of experience in this field is of practical interest both for Russia and Japan,” Safonov said.
The sides discussed threats coming from different terrorist groups, in particular the terrorist net al-Qaida and its South Asian branch Jamaa Islamia.
Ambassador at large Akio Shirota led the Japanese delegation to the consultations that engaged diplomats and workers of border and customs services.