Japanese man held by Israeli authorities

CAIRO, Aug. 3 Kyodo - A Japanese man was held by Israeli law-enforcement authorities Friday afternoon in a Hebron suburb in the Israeli-occupied West Bank but was released early Sunday morning, the Japanese Embassy in Israel said.

The man, identified as 27-year-old Naoki Shiga, a freelance writer from Tokyo, was released unhurt after being questioned by the authorities, the embassy said.

According to the International Solidarity Movement, which supports the Palestinians, Shiga was being held along with two other foreign nationals on suspicion of entering an area controlled by the Israeli military while they were participating in an activity to monitor whether Jewish settlers were harassing Palestinian farmers.