PFLP and JRA operatives hijacked Japan Air Lines Flight 404, demanding Okamoto's release in exchange for the hostages on board; Israel refused to comply. Okamoto was released in 1985 after 13 years in prison, as part of the Jibril Agreement, a prisoner exchange with Palestinian militant factions for captive Israeli soldiers. After his release from prison in Israel, Kōzō Okamoto moved to Libya, then Syria, and finally to Lebanon where he reunited with other members of the Japanese Red Army. Asylum in Lebanon On 15 February 1997, Lebanon detained five Red Army members, Haruo Wakō, Masao Adachi, Mariko Yamamoto, Kazuo Tohira and Okamoto for using forged passports and visa violations. They were sentenced to three years in prison. The sentence was passed by Judge Soheil Abdul-Shams on 31 July 1997. After their prison term was completed, the four other members of the JRA were forcibly deported to Jordan and from Amman, Jordan via a chartered Russian plane to Japan. The Lebanese government, however, granted political asylum to Okamoto because, according to the Lebanese government, he "had participated in resistance operations against Israel and had been tortured in Israeli jails." Okamoto is still wanted by the Japanese government and Japan has requested his extradition. , he was reported to be living in a refugee camp near Beirut. In May 2017, Okamoto gave an interview to the Mainichi Shimbun in Beirut. He said "I want to return to Japan once". On 30 May 2022, Okamoto appeared at a ceremony in Beirut marking the 50th anniversary of the attack, laying a wreath on the graves of his fellow JRA militants and posing for photos with PFLP supporters. See also Aharon Katzir, recipient of the Israeli Prize in life science, one of the Lod Airport massacre victims References External links Press Conference The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan 21 March 2000. Regarding the arrest of members of the JRA. The Terrorist Attack on Lod Airport: 40 Years After,King Hussein Expresses Sympathy, the Government Considers the Death Penalty, Israel State Archives 1947 births Living people Japanese Muslims Converts to Islam Japan–State of Palestine relations Japanese mass murderers People convicted of murder by Israel Palestine Liberation Organization Japanese people imprisoned abroad Japanese people convicted of murder Japanese prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Israel Prisoners and detainees of Lebanon People from Kumamoto Prefecture Japanese Red Army sv:Japanska röda armén#Medlemmar