Life term sought for Japan suspect in Briton's death

TOKYO, Oct 3 (Reuters) Tokyo prosecutors today demanded a life jail term for a Japanese businessman accused of raping and killing British woman Lucie Blackman in 2000, a court official said.

Property developer Joji Obara, 54, is on trial charged with drugging, raping and killing Blackman, a 21-year-old former British Airways flight attendant.

Blackman was working at a hostess bar in Tokyo's Roppongi entertainment district when she disappeared.

Obara also faces separate charges of raping five other women as well as sexual violence resulting in death for allegedly drugging and raping an Australian woman in 1992.

He has denied all the charges.

A spokesman at the Tokyo District Court said prosecutors had demanded a life sentence for Obara, without giving details.

Blackman vanished on July 1, 2000, after saying she was going for a drive with a man. Police found her remains in February 2001 in a beachside cave, 45 km southwest of Tokyo.

After her disappearance, her family launched a campaign to find her, resulting in a massive manhunt.

Blackman's father, Tim Blackman, said on Saturday he had accepted a ''condolence payment'' of nearly 850,000 dollars from a friend of Obara's, vowing to donate a substantial amount of it to a charity set up in his daughter's name.

REUTERS LL BST1505