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Yahoo! News - Japan Diplomats Slain in Iraq, Tokyo Says Undaunted

Yahoo! News - Japan Diplomats Slain in Iraq, Tokyo Says Undaunted

By Masayuki Kitano and Elaine Lies
TOKYO (Reuters) - Gunmen ambushed and murdered two Japanese diplomats and their Iraqi driver in northern Iraq (news - web sites), piling new pressure on the Tokyo government as it weighs a decision on sending troops to help rebuild that country.

An angry Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi vowed on Sunday not to be blown off course by Saturday's deaths -- the first of Japanese in Iraq since U.S.-led forces invaded in March.

"Japan must not give in to terrorism," Koizumi told reporters. "We will firmly carry out our responsibilities for humanitarian aid and reconstruction (in Iraq). There is no change in this.

"Why does this kind of thing happen? I am furious."

The Foreign Ministry later advised all Japanese non-diplomatic citizens to leave Iraq due to the security risk.

News of the murders can only deepen the dilemma for Koizumi, who must balance the demands of vital security ties with the United States with the concerns of domestic voters, who are increasingly nervous about the dangers involved.

A senior leader of Japan's main opposition party expressed outrage and demanded a special session of parliament to deal with the issue.

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi told a news conference that diplomats Katsuhiko Oku, 45, and Masamori Inoue, 30, were killed in the attack, which occurred near Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s hometown of Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad.

The diplomats' Iraqi driver was also later confirmed to have been killed, a Japanese official said.

Kawaguchi called the ambush "unforgivable," but said Tokyo was undaunted in its determination to fight terrorism and help rebuild Iraq.

Earlier, Kawaguchi had told reporters that Japan would continue to carefully assess the situation to decide when it could send troops to Iraq.

Toshimitsu Motegi, a cabinet minister who had worked with Inoue, said: "I'm sure they'd be upset if their deaths made Japan stop aid -- otherwise, what meaning was there to their efforts?

"We must overcome our grief and go on with reconstruction."

PACIFIST CONSTRAINTS

The two diplomats had been en route to a conference on the reconstruction of northern Iraq to be held in Tikrit, about 10-15 km (6-9 miles) from the ambush site.

Koizumi, whose coalition retained power in a general election this month, although with a reduced majority, risks a serious blow to his popularity if troops are sent to Iraq and deaths occur, political analysts have said.

That would be an especially unwelcome prospect with an election for parliament's Upper House set for next July.

In a sign of trouble, Katsuya Okada, secretary-general of the main opposition Democratic Party issued a statement expressing "strong anger and dread."

"The government must be called to account for the wishful thinking of its predictions and safety measures (in Iraq)," Okada said, demanding a special parliamentary session be called. The Democrats have opposed the dispatch of troops from the start.

An executive of the Buddhist-backed New Komeito Party -- the coalition partner of Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party -- said Japan should be cautious about sending troops and committed to ensuring its citizens' safety, Kyodo news agency reported.

Japan has passed a special law to enable it to send troops to Iraq but, in line with the nation's pacifist constitution, they can only be sent to "non-combat zones" and must take part only in reconstruction and humanitarian work.

Japan has also pledged $5 billion in grants and loans to rebuild Iraq, the biggest donor after the United States.

Tokyo had inched closer to a troop dispatch on Friday, when Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba said a recent fact-finding mission had reported southern Iraq was relatively stable. Japan has been planning to send its forces to the town of Samawah.

A suicide bomb attack in nearby Nassiriya killed 19 Italians earlier in November, forcing Japan to put its plan to send troops by the end of the year on hold.

(Additional reporting by Linda Sieg and Midoriko Morita)

November 30, 2003 at 07:59 AM in Iraq, Japan | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home