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Slain ‘kamikaze’ Gunmen Buried in Israel

June 21, 1972
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The two Japanese gunmen–companions of Kozo Okamoto–who were slain in the Lydda Airport massacre May 30, were buried at an undisclosed site in southern Israel today. Only an Israeli police officer and an official of the Japanese Embassy attended.

The bodies of Okudeira Takashi and Yassouda Yassuki were interred without a religious ceremony. Their burial had been delayed in the expectation that Japan would request the return of the bodies. But no request came from Tokyo officials or from the families of the slain terrorists. The Japanese Embassy here said it had no objections to their burial in Israel. One of the gunmen was killed accidentally by his companion and the other by the explosion of his own grenade.

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