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Thursday,
March
03,
2005
1:03:16
AM
ET
TOKYO
(Reuters)
-
Former
world
chess
champion
Bobby
Fischer's
fiancee
and
an
Icelandic
friend
were
denied
access
to
him
Thursday
at
the
detention
center
outside
Tokyo
where
he
is
being
held
while
fighting
deportation
to
the
United
States.
Fischer
is
wanted
in
the
United
States
for
violating
sanctions
against
Yugoslavia
by
playing
a
chess
match
there
in
1992.
He
has
been
in
custody
in
Japan
since
he
was
arrested
last
July
for
traveling
on
an
invalid
U.S.
passport.
An
official
at
the
immigration
bureau
detention
center
in
Ushiku,
northeast
of
Tokyo,
said
that
no
one
was
currently
allowed
to
meet
with
Fischer
for
"security
reasons."
He
would
not
elaborate
or
say
how
long
the
ban
on
visits
would
last.
Miyoko
Watai,
a
four-time
Japan
women's
chess
champion
who
last
year
announced
plans
to
marry
Fischer,
was
turned
away
along
with
Fischer's
long-time
friend
Saemundur
Palsson,
who
had
spent
days
traveling
to
Japan
for
the
reunion,
the
Mainichi
Daily
News
said
on
its
Web
site.
Iceland,
where
Fischer
won
the
world
title
in
1972
in a
classic
Cold
War
encounter
with
Soviet
champion
Boris
Spassky,
offered
him
a
home
late
last
year
and
in
February
agreed
to
issue
him
a
special
passport
that
would
allow
him
to
travel
through
15
West
European
countries
in
what
is
known
as
the
Schengen
Zone.
It
remained
unclear
whether
Japanese
immigration
authorities
would
agree
to
let
Fischer
go
to
Iceland
rather
than
deport
him
to
the
United
States.
Three
years
after
his
stunning
victory
in
the
Icelandic
capital,
Reykjavik,
Fischer
lost
the
crown
after
world
chess
officials
rejected
his
conditions
for
a
title
defense
against
another
Soviet
player,
Anatoly
Karpov.
Karpov
became
champion
by
default.
Fischer
disappeared
after
playing
the
controversial
1992
match
in
Belgrade,
a
rematch
with
his
old
rival
Spassky,
but
resurfaced
after
the
Sept.
11,
2001
attacks
in
the
United
States.
In
an
interview
with
a
Philippine
radio
station,
Fischer
praised
the
strikes
and
said
he
wanted
to
see
America
"wiped
out."
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