Former Japan PM Abe's funeral held

TOKYO－A funeral for Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe was held on Tuesday in central Tokyo. Abe was shot dead while delivering a speech last week.

The ceremony took place at the Zojoji Temple at the foot of the iconic Tokyo Tower. Besides Abe's wife Akie and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, some lawmakers as well as foreign dignitaries and business leaders attended the funeral.

Crowds packed pavements lined with heavy police presence as the hearse carrying Abe, who died at age 67, departed from a central Tokyo temple on a procession through the city. Memorial services were scheduled to be held later in Tokyo and in his constituency in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

Responding to a question about the visit of a Taiwan politician to Japan for Abe's funeral, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular news conference in Beijing on Tuesday: "After the sudden and unfortunate passing of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, the Taiwan authorities have sought to engage in political manipulation and benefit politically by taking advantage of the incident. Their political calculations will not succeed."

Abe was shot on Friday at close range by a 41-year-old local, who used a handmade double-barreled gun, on a street in the western city of Nara while giving a speech for a candidate of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for Sunday's upper house election.

Under investigation

The suspected killer, arrested at the scene and identified by police as Tetsuya Yamagami, believed Abe had promoted a religious group to which his mother had made a "huge donation", reported Kyodo News Agency citing investigators.

The Unification Church, known for its mass weddings and devoted following, said on Monday that the suspect's mother was one of its members.

Yamagami shot Abe from behind, unloading two shots from a 40-centimeter-long improvised weapon wrapped with black tape.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference on Tuesday that the Japanese government will consider whether there is a need to further regulate handmade guns.

"We are aware that current regulations strictly restrict firearms, whether handmade or not," he said.

Satoshi Ninoyu, head of the National Public Safety Commission, told a Tuesday news conference that he had directed for a team to be established to investigate the security situation around Abe's assassination.

"We take this incident extremely seriously," he said.

Agencies - Xinhua