Red Army's reign of terror

Fusako Shigenobu (R) and Red Army member Kozo Okamoto

The Japanese Red Army, once one of the most feared guerrilla groups, spread terror around the world over a period of 16 years. These are some of the most serious attacks.

February 1971: The Japanese Red Army is founded. Its leader Fusako Shigenobu goes to Lebanon and ties up with Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

The group was founded by Shigenobu

May 1972: A machine gun and grenade attack on Israel's Lod Airport in Tel Aviv, now Ben Gurion Airport, leaves 26 people dead, including two Red Army members, and about 80 others injured.

July 1973: Red Army members lead PFLP guerrillas in hijacking a Japan Airlines (JAL) plane over the Netherlands. The passengers and crew are released in Libya, where hijackers blow up the plane.

January 1974: Red Army members blamed for blowing up storage tanks at an oil refinery in Singapore.

September 1974: The French Embassy in The Hague is stormed and the ambassador is taken hostage. He is freed in exchange for the release of a jailed Red Army member.

August 1975: The Red Army takes more than 50 hostages at a building housing several embassies in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The hostages include the US consul and the Swedish charge d'affaires. The gunmen win the release of five imprisoned comrades and fly with them to Libya.

Kozo Okamoto: Granted asylum in Lebanon

September 1977:The Red Army hijacks a JAL plane over India and forces it to land in Dhaka. The Japanese Government frees six imprisoned members of the group and pays a $6m ransom.

May 1985: Red Army guerrilla Kozo Okamoto, who was jailed in Israel following the Tel Aviv airport attack, is freed in an exchange of prisoners between Israeli and Palestinian forces.

May 1986: The Red Army fires mortar rounds at the embassies of Japan, Canada and the United States in Jakarta, Indonesia.

June 1987: A similar attack is launched on the British and United States embassies in Rome, Italy.

April 1988: Red Army members bomb US military recreational club in Naples, Italy, killing five.

February 1997: Lebanon detains five Red Army members, including Kozo Okamoto.

March 2000: Lebanon grants Mr Okamoto political asylum, but deports the other four to Japan.

November 2000: Red Army founder Fusako Shigenobu arrested in Osaka, Japan.