Japan fisherman 'shot by Russia'
Pastor Dale Morgan
Japan fisherman 'shot by Russia'*
BBC - A Japanese fisherman has been shot dead by a Russian patrol boat
near a chain of disputed islands, the first fatality in 50 years, media
reports say.
Japan's foreign ministry demanded the release of three other fishermen
who were detained by the Russian boat.
Both countries lay claim to the four disputed islands, which Russia
calls the southern Kurils and Japan the Northern Territories.
The dispute has stopped the two nations signing a peace treaty to end WWII.
The islands were seized by the Soviet Union at the end of the war in 1945.
Russia has said it will hand over some of the islands to Japan, but
Tokyo insists all four should be returned.
According to Japanese press reports, the Russian patrol boat is said to
have opened fire on the Japanese vessel and later taken it, along with
its crew, to one of the disputed islands.
But the Russian coast guard insisted that the vessel defied several
orders to stop and made dangerous manoeuvres, according to the Itar-Tass
news agency.
The coast guard confirmed that shots had been fired and that a dead man
had been found on board with a gunshot wound to the head, the agency said.
The BBC's Chris Hogg, in Tokyo, says fishing disputes are common in the
area, and Russian border patrols often try to capture Japanese fishermen.
But the last time a Japanese citizen was shot dead by a Soviet vessel
was nearly 50 years ago.
Japanese officials called in a Russian diplomat to demand an explanation.