Australian FM: Japan Agrees to Free Two Anti-Whaling Activists

15 January 2008 -- Australia's foreign minister says Japan has agreed to free two anti-whaling activists being held aboard a Japanese whaling vessel in Antarctic waters.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told Australia's national radio early Wednesday that Japan has not yet handed the men back to their own ship.

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Smith added that Australian police are investigating whether there had been any unlawful activity.

Japanese crewmembers seized the men - an Australian and a Briton - Tuesday when they boarded a vessel belonging to Japan's Institute for Cetacean Research. The Japanese research institute says the men attacked their vessel with bottles of acid after illegally boarding it.

An Australian court issued a ruling earlier Tuesday that bans Japanese whaling in an area near Antarctica that Australia has designated a whale sanctuary. Japan does not recognize the sanctuary and has said it will ignore any such injunction.

Source: VOA News