Tetsuya Yamagami had reportedly hinted that he was going to kill Japan’s former prime minister
The man who is believed to have assassinated Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe earlier this month had dropped hints about his plans in a letter penned earlier, reports in Japanese media claim.
On Sunday, several news outlets suggested that Tetsuya Yamagami had at some point sent a written message to a critic of the Unification Church – the organization the 41-year-old blames for his family’s downfall. In the letter, Yamagami, among other things, levelled harsh criticism at Abe, who he believed had links to the said religious group.
According to the media citing the letter’s recipient, whose identity has not been disclosed, the would-be assassin had gone so far as to indicate that he wanted to kill the former premier.
Yamagami is quoted as saying he had “felt bitter” toward Abe, who in his eyes had been “one of the most influential sympathizers of the Unification Church in the real world.”
Police are now reportedly aware of the message.
The former prime minister was shot on July 8 while delivering an electoral campaign speech on the streets of the city of Nara.
The politician was rushed to hospital; however, despite doctors’ attempts at resuscitating him, he showed “no vital signs” and was soon pronounced dead.
The suspected assassin, who was in possession of a homemade gun, was pinned down by police at the scene.
Yamagami later revealed to investigators that his mother’s donations to the Unification Church had seen his family go broke, with the suspect’s uncle confirming that the woman had shelled out a total of ¥100 million ($720,000).
The organization, officially known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, is a relatively new religious movement founded in South Korea in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon, who claimed to be a messiah.
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President Joe Biden’s administration has claimed that Washington is the partner of choice in “every capital around this region”
Washington has re-established itself under President Joe Biden’s watch as the dominant security and economic partner desired by Middle East governments, halting a trend toward countries seeking closer ties with Russia and China, a senior White House official has claimed.
“If you go back to this region, say, I don’t know, 18 months ago, you heard an awful lot of just really significant hedging and, I would say, in many capitals, a real drift towards Russia and even China in many ways,” a Biden administration official told reporters on Friday. “Really, that has been arrested and, in many instances, very specific instances – not all which I can talk about – reversed.”
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity, touting Biden’s alleged accomplishments during the president’s four-day trip to the Middle East this week. Wrapping up his first visit to the region since taking office in January 2021, Biden met with leaders of nine countries at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) +3 Summit in Saudi Arabia before heading back to Washington on Saturday.
Questioned about the fact that none of the countries represented at the summit has sanctioned Russia over the Ukraine crisis, the senior White House staffer insisted that the US is winning the geopolitical battle for influence in the Middle East. He said it’s only “natural” that GCC members and other countries in the region also have relationships with Russia and China.
“But when it comes to the partnerships and the partnerships of choice, and particularly in the security realm – but also in the trade, investment, commerce, tech realm – we heard from every capital around this region that their first choice, their priority, is the United States of America,” he said. “And that is something that we are very much committed to following up on and finding areas in which we can partner.”
The official argued that Biden’s visit made clear that the US has “no intent to leave a vacuum here in the Middle East, particularly for Russia or China to fill, or for that matter, Iran.” He noted with concern that Russian delegations reportedly visited Iran in recent weeks to view attack-capable drones that might be used in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit Tehran on Tuesday.
“Russia is effectively making a bet on Iran, and we are making a bet on a more integrated, more stable, more peaceful and prosperous Middle East region,” the White House official said.
After years of attempts at nation-building and regime changes through military force, which were “out of America’s reach to deliver and drained our attention and resources and capacity,” the US has changed course, the staffer said. “We are focused on what we think is a far more realistic set of objectives, very central to our interests and the interests of our partners.”
Biden’s strategy is based on Washington’s ability to build alliances, integrate the region, find connections that don’t exist and strengthen the ties that develop, the White House official said. “I think it is an era in which the unique capabilities of the United States can play a really important role here in forging new partnerships and strengthening alliances and coalitions,” he said.
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