Japan has been on high alert, tightening security at hundreds of airports, nuclear plants and government facilities amid warnings that terrorists could target the country as it nears sending troops to Iraq.
Japan will deploy about 1,000 military personnel, including air and naval forces, to Iraq to help reconstruction efforts. It will be the country's largest military deployment since World War II.
The dispatch has fueled fears that Japan could become the target of a terrorist attack. Security jitters are running high after devastating bombings in Spain earlier this month.
"The country is on its highest level of alert since Iraq was invaded in March 2003," a government official said. To guard against attack, Tokyo doubled to between 450 and 500 the number of police at six major railway stations in the city, including those servicing the country's high-speed "Shinkansen" bullet trains. The agents have checked mysterious packages and inspected the baggage of suspicious travelers, officials said.
Government sources said Japan would impose stricter security checks at airports beginning April. The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry is considering adding two more security levels above phase E (emergency), the strictest of the current three alert levels.
But Japan, one of America's staunchest allies in the war on terrorism, has insisted the deadly bombings that killed 202 people in Madrid would not change its backing for Washington.
"We must not give in to terrorist threats and must prepare for a long fight against terrorism," Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said in an address to mark the first anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. The premier said he believes weapons of mass destruction will turn up and that the war on Iraq was legitimate.
