Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

330 • JAPANESE RED ARMYstate sponsorship from Libya and Syria, backing from these regimeshas diminished as they have sought to improve relations with theWest and to distance themselves from those groups they formerlypatronized. The JRA has maintained cooperative ties since 1971 withthe North Korean regime as well as having a long-term relationshipwith the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).Although the JRA formerly maintained its center and training campin the Syrian-controlled part of the Bekaa valley in Lebanon, Syriaeffectively ended its support for the JRA in February 1997 by allowingLebanese authorities to arrest and try several of its members forpassport violations and illegal entry and residence in Lebanon.The Japanese name for this “Red Army” is Sekigun, “JapaneseRed Army” being Nippon Sekigun. In May 1986 the JRA began usingthe name Anti-Imperialist International Brigades, either as a newcover or as a nom de guerre. Often the JRA has claimed to serve as arallying point for similar anarchistic leftists in Japan, seeking to opposeJapanese and Western “imperialism” and to establish a People’sRepublic in Japan. The venues of most of its actions have been outsideJapan, however, and even when the JRA used kidnapping orhijacking to force the Japanese government to release comrades imprisonedwithin Japan, such compliance tended to be relatively low invisibility. Therefore, it is unclear how the JRA terrorist program wasexpected to influence public opinion within Japan.The JRA emerged from an internal purge of the Japanese CommunistLeague–Red Army Faction in 1970–1971, leading to the murdersof several members. These murders led to a police crackdown inJapan, forcing many members of the Faction to flee abroad. A Factionliaison with the PFLP in Lebanon, Fusako Shigenobu, invitedother fugitive members to join her there, where the JRA was formed.Shigenobu remained the leader of the JRA until her arrest in Japanon 8 November 2000.From 1971 to 1991, the JRA undertook 17 noteworthy actions andplanned, or attempted, at least nine major actions that were aborted.Of the 16 successful actions, two were armed attacks using knives,samurai swords, small arms, or automatic weapons; three werehijackings; four were bombings; two were hostage seizures; andsix were rocket attacks. It should be noted that the hijackings andhostage seizures that occurred from 1971 to 1977 involved handheldweapons and direct contact with victims. Such tactics seemed