A top police official's call for the creation of a system to track convicted sex offenders after the completion of their sentence was met with opposition Friday.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Justice Minister Chieko Noono told a news conference after the day's Cabinet meeting that such a system could be a serious infringement on privacy and pose a huge obstacle to a former offender's return to society.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Yoshitaka Murata, commission chairman of the National Public Safety, also expressed caution at a separate news conference, saying the government must ask the public if police should have such information.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>On Thursday, National Police Agency Commissioner General Iwao Uruma underscored the need for such a system to prevent repeat sex offenses.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Uruma made the remark in light of the recent arrest of a 36-year-old man in the kidnap-murder of a 7-year-old girl in Nara Prefecture. The man has a record of molesting young girls, and served time in prison for trying to kill one of his victims.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Uruma stopped short of demanding the public release of such offenders' names and addresses, as is done in South Korea and the United States, but said a correctional program should be created and made mandatory for those imprisoned for sex crimes. </PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>'A system in which each police station can know exactly where those with criminal records are after serving their prison terms is necessary,' Uruma told a news conference.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Since October 2001, the Justice Ministry can inform victims, when deemed necessary, of an offender's scheduled date of release and address. Police currently cannot obtain such information, he said.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>'There is a debate about whether to go as far as releasing the information to local residents,' he said. 'We want to study the issue carefully, including the making of necessary legislation.'</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>But Uruma said several members of the National Public Safety Commission said in a meeting the same day that information on people with records of sexual offenses should be made available to the public.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The NPA commission chairman expressed his intention to ask for cooperation from the Justice Ministry on the provision of information and on necessary legislative procedures.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The man arrested in the Nara case was arrested for molesting small girls in the city of Osaka in 1989 and 1991. In the 1991 case, he was found guilty and served a prison term.</PARAGRAPH> <SUBHEAD> E-mail alerts eyed</SUBHEAD> <PARAGRAPH> NARA –

The city of Nara said Friday it will introduce by the end of March a system to alert parents via e-mail following incidents in which children are approached by suspicious people.

The move comes after the abduction and murder of a 7-year-old Nara schoolgirl in November.

According to city officials, messages will be sent to the cell phones and personal computers of parents and guardians who register with the local education board.