Japan ex-PM Abe assassinated

Former prime minister Shinzo Abe, the longest-serving leader of modern Japan, was gunned down yesterday while campaigning for a parliamentary election, shocking a country where political violence is rare.

Abe was pronounced dead around five and a half hours after the shooter opened fire on him from behind as he spoke to members of the public from a traffic island in the western city of Nara.

The murder of the 67-year-old stunned the nation and prompted an international outpouring of grief and condemnation.

It was all the more shocking given Japan's strict gun laws and low rates of violent crime, with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, describing the killing as a "barbaric act" that was "absolutely unforgivable".

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday expressed her deep shock and sorrow over the killing.

A suspect was arrested at the scene. Senior police officers later named the suspect as unemployed 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, who said he had used a handmade gun.

The suspected killer admitted targeting the politician and said he held a grudge against an organisation he believed Abe was connected to, police said.

Police declined to give details of the "particular organisation" mentioned by the suspect, saying investigations were ongoing, but several Japanese media outlets described it as a religious group.

"I am stunned, outraged, and deeply saddened by the news that my friend Abe Shinzo, former Prime Minister of Japan, was shot and killed while campaigning," US President Joe Biden said in a statement.

"This is a tragedy for Japan and for all who knew him... He was a champion of the alliance between our nations and the friendship between our people."

Similar messages of sympathy and shock poured in from around the world following news of Abe's death.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the death an "irreplaceable loss". British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed the leadership role taken by the former premier, saying the UK stands with Japan "at this dark and sad time".

India announced one day of state mourning, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailing Abe as a global statesman.

Abe had been making a campaign speech outside a train station when two shots rang out. Security officials were then seen tackling a man in a grey T-shirt and beige trousers.

Kyodo news service published a photograph of Abe lying face-up on the street by a guardrail, blood on his white shirt. People were crowded around him, one administering heart massage.

Abe was showing no vital signs when he was taken to a hospital. He was declared dead at 5:03 pm (0803 GMT), having bled to death from deep wounds to the heart and the right side of his neck.

He had received more than 100 units of blood in transfusions over four hours, Hidetada Fukushima, the professor in charge of emergency medicine at Nara Medical University Hospital, told a televised news conference.

Members of the public laid flowers near the spot where Abe fell. TV Asahi reported that Abe's body would be transferred to his Tokyo home today.

It was the first killing of a sitting or former Japanese leader since a 1936 coup attempt, when several figures including two ex-premiers were assassinated.

Post-war Japan prides itself on its orderly and open democracy. Senior Japanese politicians are accompanied by armed security agents but often get close to the public, especially during political campaigns when they make roadside speeches and shake hands with passers-by.

The killing might change the practices, analysts said.

Abe served two terms as prime minister, stepping down in 2020 citing ill health. The hawkish conservative had pushed for the revision of Japan's pacifist constitution to recognise the country's military, and stayed a prominent political figure even after his resignation.

Kishida, who won the premiership with Abe's backing, said the LDP would continue election campaigning today to demonstrate its resolve to "never give in to violence", and to defend a "free and fair election at all cost".