BEIRUT - A Japanese diplomat indicated yesterday that Tokyo no longer expected Lebanon to deport detained Red Army suspects immediately but still hoped for an extradition agreement.
Mr Hiroshi Hirabayashi, chief foreign policy adviser to the Prime Minister, Mr Ryutaro Hashimoto, spoke with reporters after talks with the Lebanese Prime Minister, Mr Rafik al-Hariri.
"The Japanese Prime Minister said in his letter that if the suspects are proved to be Red Army members they should be dealt with on the basis of the crimes they committed against the international community," a government source said.
Mr Hirabayashi arrived in Beirut on Sunday to join efforts to resolve the case, which has caused confusion between the two countries since Mr Hashimoto said on February 18th that Lebanese officials had told him they had arrested six Japanese suspected members of the group in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley.