| A senior member of Islamic militant group Al Qaeda has told U.S. authorities that the group had drawn up a plan to launch attacks in Japan during the 2002 World Cup, Japanese media said on Saturday. The United States has informed Japan of this information, which U.S. authorities are thought to have gained from Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Shaikh Mohammed visited Japan for about three months in 1987 and received training in the use of rock-drilling machinery at a construction machinery maker in Shizuoka prefecture in central Japan. He told U.S. authorities the attacks were never carried out because it was difficult to establish a support system because of a dearth of Muslims in Japan, which co-hosted the 2002 World Cup with South Korea. |