Kozo Okamoto, Known as "Ahmed the Japanese," Dies at 78 in Lebanon

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) announced on Thursday the death of Kozo Okamoto, a Japanese citizen known by the nickname "Ahmed the Japanese," at the age of 78. Okamoto was one of the participants in the 1972 attack on Israel's Lod Airport.

In a statement issued by the PFLP's Lebanon branch, Okamoto was described as "the comrade, the great revolutionary internationalist," and recognized as "one of the heroes of the immortal heroic Lod Airport epic."

The statement, published on the PFLP's official website, noted that Okamoto passed away in the southern suburbs of Beirut. It highlighted that he "carried the Palestinian cause on his shoulders and was an authentic member of the Palestinian revolutionary body."

Okamoto was identified as "one of the heroes of the immortal Lod Airport operation on May 30, 1972, during which he and his comrades inscribed one of the boldest and most creative commando operations in the history of the conflict with Israel with their blood and minds," according to the statement.

The statement further indicated that Okamoto took part in the attack on Lod Airport alongside "heroes of the Japanese Red Army in cooperation with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine," as retaliation for the Israeli aggression on Beirut Airport in 1968.

Okamoto spent 13 years in Israeli prisons, mostly in isolation and solitary confinement. On May 20, 1985, he was released as part of a prisoner exchange deal known as the "Galilee Operation," which was led by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command, the statement added.

Lebanon granted Kozo Okamoto political asylum in 2000, making him the only political refugee in Lebanon, in recognition of his history of struggle. He remained in Lebanon until his death in the capital, Beirut.