Man held after hurling suspected petrol bombs at LDP headquarters

A man was arrested after throwing several suspected petrol bombs at the headquarters of Japan's ruling party on Oct 19 and ramming his car into a fence outside the prime minister's office, police said.

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No injuries were reported in the incident, which comes just over a week before a general election in which new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba hopes to shore up his mandate.

A Tokyo police spokeswoman said a 49-year-old man from Saitama, north of the Japanese capital, was "arrested on the spot on suspicion of obstructing public duties".

At around sunrise on Oct 19, "he approached the headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in a vehicle, got out and threw what appeared to be Molotov cocktails," she told AFP.

"He also drove into the road in front of the prime minister's office, crashing into a fence to prevent vehicles from entering, and then threw what appeared to be a smoke bomb towards police officers after getting out of the car."