Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe was shot in the chest during Friday's speech

APD NEWS

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Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe has been taken to hospital bleeding after collapsing while delivering a speech in the western city of Nara, public broadcaster NHK reported on Friday.

A 42-year-old man has been arrested in the Nara region on suspicion of attempted murder, according to Kyodo News Agency.Local police have identified the suspect in the Abe shooting as Tetsuya Yamagami, who lives in Nara prefecture and is in his 40s.

The suspect in the shooting of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is a former maritime Self Defense Force member, according to Fuji TV.

The 67-year-old, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, held the role from 2006 to 2007 and returned to the position from 2012 to 2020.

He stepped down in 2020 citing health reasons and later revealed that he had suffered a relapse of ulcerative colitis, an intestinal disease.

Abe is known for his Abenomics economic policy and attempts to revise the restrictions on the country’s military in its postwar constitution.

He was succeeded as prime minister by his close party ally Yoshihide Suga, who was later replaced by Fumio Kishida.

(CGTN)