House of Representatives lawmaker Muneo Suzuki instructed a Foreign Ministry official to secretly make contact with Afghanistan's Taliban regime in 1999, in an effort to secure the release of four Japanese engineers who had been abducted by Islamic rebels in Kyrgyzstan that summer, it was learned Saturday.
The Taliban were believed to have influence over the hostage-takers. Although the kidnapping was resolved without bringing the Taliban into the matter, sources close to the case said the incident increased Suzuki's influence over Japan's diplomatic policy in Central Asia.
Suzuki's supporters have denied the allegations, saying that nothing of the sort happened. Formerly a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the lawmaker left the party last month after a string of allegations that he exerted excessive and improper influence over the Foreign Ministry.