US ambassador to Japan receives death threats

Tokyo, March 17, 2015: US ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy has received a number of death threats by phone from a male English speaker, media reported on Tuesday. According to the reports, the US embassy located in Tokyo's Minato Ward fielded calls in February from a man speaking English who said he was going to kill Kennedy. While the US embassy has declined to comment on the threats, sources close to the matter said on Tuesday that the threats to the ambassador's life may be part of a scheme to blackmail Kennedy or the embassy, Xinhua news agency reported. Reports also stated that Alfred Magleby, the US Consul General in Naha, Okinawa prefecture, has also received a number of death threats by phone. Kennedy is the daughter of former US President John F. Kennedy who was himself assassinated in 1963. She assumed the post of ambassador here in 2013 and is the first woman to take the top post in Japan, which has traditionally seen high profile Americans assume the position. A former attorney and book editor who served as the president of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, Kennedy is known to be a staunch supporter of US President Barack Obama and previously attempted to oust Hillary Clinton in the Senate after Clinton became Obama's Secretary of State. The Harvard and Columbia graduate is known for her communication and interpersonal skills and is highly regarded as forward thinking and a savvy political authority. Sources confirmed that the Tokyo police is investigating the threats to the ambassador's life