Police Sieges Japan

Police stormed a hijacked jumbo jet today, freeing 364 hostages held by a man apparently seeking freedom for imprisoned cult leader Shoko Asahara, who is accused of masterminding a poison gas attack in Tokyo's subways. The lightning assault--uncharacteristically bold for Japan--ended a nearly 16-hour drama broadcast live on television to a nation still fearful that members of the Aum Supreme Truth sect may launch new terrorist attacks in response to the arrest of their leader.

A teenager wielding a large knife hijacked a bus with about 20 people on board, killed a woman and held the weapon to the neck of a 6-year-old girl before police stormed the vehicle early today to end the 15-hour standoff. Two other women on the bus were wounded. The hijacking, which began in Fukuoka prefecture, 560 miles southwest of Tokyo, riveted Japan as TV stations broadcast overhead shots of the bus moving slowly along the highway.

A man believed to be armed with a pistol seized a hostage today and barricaded himself on the 14th floor of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, demanding that stock trading be halted, a Tokyo police spokesman said. Police were negotiating with the man, who is described as being in his 20s or early 30s and wearing a suit. He was holding his hostage in the stock exchange's executive suite, which was surrounded by police.

A man believed to be armed with a pistol seized a hostage today and barricaded himself on the 14th floor of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, demanding that stock trading be halted, a Tokyo police spokesman said. Police were negotiating with the man, who is described as being in his 20s or early 30s and wearing a suit. He was holding his hostage in the stock exchange's executive suite, which was surrounded by police.

A teenager wielding a large knife hijacked a bus with about 20 people on board, killed a woman and held the weapon to the neck of a 6-year-old girl before police stormed the vehicle early today to end the 15-hour standoff. Two other women on the bus were wounded. The hijacking, which began in Fukuoka prefecture, 560 miles southwest of Tokyo, riveted Japan as TV stations broadcast overhead shots of the bus moving slowly along the highway.

Police stormed a hijacked jumbo jet today, freeing 364 hostages held by a man apparently seeking freedom for imprisoned cult leader Shoko Asahara, who is accused of masterminding a poison gas attack in Tokyo's subways. The lightning assault--uncharacteristically bold for Japan--ended a nearly 16-hour drama broadcast live on television to a nation still fearful that members of the Aum Supreme Truth sect may launch new terrorist attacks in response to the arrest of their leader.