Bin Laden's deputy hints that al-Qaida considers Japan a target

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait - Ayman Al-Zawahri, al-Qaida's No. 2 leader and deputy of Osama bin Laden, answers Kyodo News' questions on April 22 along with hundreds of other questions submitted by al-Qaida followers, critics and journalists for more than a month on major Islamic websites used by Islamic militants. Al-Zawahri vowed to punish Western countries that participated in the Iraq war, hinting that Japan could be an attack target and advising it to end its alliance with ''Americans who had occupied, looted, humiliated and bombed them with nukes.'' (Kyodo)