Arrest in Semiconductor Case: Police said they...

Arrest in Semiconductor Case: Police said they have rearrested the president of a Japanese machinery company on suspicion of selling restricted semiconductor manufacturing equipment to East Germany. A Japanese police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hirokuni Matsuda, president of Prometron Technics Corp., exported the equipment without government approval. The equipment is on a list of items restricted by the Coordinating Committee on Multilateral Export Control, a Paris-based organization that regulates trade in strategic items with the communist bloc. On July 7, police arrested Matsuda on suspicion of exporting hafnium, a rare material used in nuclear reactor rods.