Russia imposes entry ban on Japanese officials for comments on islands dispute

[News_Editor]

Russia imposes entry ban on Japanese officials for comments on islands dispute

2011-03-03 02:26:56 GMT+7 (ICT)

MOSCOW, RUSSIA (BNO NEWS) -- Russia on Wednesday imposed an entry ban on two Japanese CEOs for their comments over the Kuril Islands dispute, RIA Novosti reported.

The Russian Interior Ministry imposed the ban for 'anti-Russian rhetoric' over the heads of the Japanese organizations the Brotherhood Community Devoted for Great Japan and the Solidarity League for the Return of Northern Territories.

The two individuals were banned from entering Russia over the desecration of the Russian flag by its members during a February celebration, as announced by Alexander Lukashevich, spokesman for the Russian Interior Ministry.

On February 7, Japanese right-wing campaigners dragged the Russian flag along the ground outside the Russian Embassy in Tokyo during the Northern Territories Day.

The demonstrators were demanding the return of the disputed Kuril Islands to Japan. The Russian Embassy in Tokyo also received an envelope containing a bullet and a letter over the same issue.

Japan dismissed initiating any criminal proceedings against the protesters and Russia issued a diplomatic protest on Wednesday. The Asian country said that the extremists did not desecrate the Russian flag but rather a self-made object, resembling a flag.

The Kuril Islands, Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai, lie at the end of a chain stretching from Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula to the Japanese island of Hokkaido. This dispute has prevented the two countries from signing a postwar peace treaty after the islands were seized from Japan by Soviet troops at the end of World War II.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan demanded the return of the islands to Japan following a visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to the disputed territory last November. Kan said that the visit was an "inexcusable rudeness."

In response, Medvedev announced that Russia will increase its military presence on the disputed territories as he ordered the deployment of naval and ground-based units equipped with advanced weaponry.

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