The World - News from April 11, 1989

Japanese Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita defended contributions that his political organization received from a company at the heart of a political scandal, saying the Recruit Co. donations were legal. Takeshita, under increasing pressure in a scandal that has led to the arrest of 13 people and the resignation of three Cabinet ministers, spoke to a parliamentary committee in response to recent reports of huge donations to his organization from Recruit. Newspapers have reported that Takeshita’s political support group received about $1 million from Recruit, a publishing and telecommunications group, in 1986 and 1987.