Iraq deaths won't deter Japan
 |
Koizumi: No giving in to terrorism.
Story Tools
VIDEO
|
Attacks on U.S. forces are reportedly down but Spain suffers from the loss of seven intelligence agents.
|
SPECIAL REPORT
|
|
|
TOKYO, Japan -- Japan says the killing of two of its diplomats in Iraq will not influence plans to send its first soldiers to help reconstruction efforts in the country.
"Japan has a responsibility to provide humanitarian and reconstruction aid in Iraq," Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Sunday. "There is no change to our policy of not giving in to terrorism."
The two diplomats were killed Saturday near Tikrit as they traveled to the city to attend a reconstruction aid conference.
Katsuhiko Oku, 45, was head of cultural affairs at Japan's London embassy and was on assignment in Iraq. Masamori Inoue, 30, was a second secretary at the Baghdad mission.
Their deaths are the first Japanese losses in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion.
Their Lebanese driver was seriously injured in the attack and is being treated in hospital.
"The two were working day and night for the reconstruction of Iraq," Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi told a news conference Sunday. "Their deaths are extremely regrettable. I am at a loss for words."
She said Japan had no intention of closing its embassy in Baghdad and officials were not considering reducing staffing levels there.
Japan is preparing to send its first deployment of non-combat troops to help reconstruction efforts in southern Iraq.
On Friday, Japanese Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba reported to officials that a fact-finding team had evaluated conditions as "rather stable" in the region where the troops are to based.
Responsibility
Koizumi has been a strong backer of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, emphasizing that Japan has a responsibility to help rebuild the country.
In July Japan's parliament approved the deployment of troops on condition that they serve in "non—combat areas."
Critics of the move say there are no such areas in Iraq and point to near-daily attacks on coalition forces.
Public support for the mission has also been shaken following reports in recent weeks that an alleged al-Qaida operative, Abu Mohammed al-Ablaj, warned Japan against helping the United States in Iraq with a warning that Tokyo "is the easiest place to destroy."
Japanese troops have not set foot in a country at war since World War II, and none has died in fighting while on a peacekeeping mission.
To date Japan's only overseas casualties have been a sailor who died of a heart attack at sea and two Japanese civilians who were killed while helping organize Cambodia's 1993 election.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Lou Fintor said the U.S. government extended its sympathies to the people and government of Japan following Saturday's killings.
"Japan has played a critical role in Iraq's rehabilitation and reconstruction," he said in a written statement. "Heinous attacks such as these will not weaken our resolve to help build a stable, unified and democratic Iraq."
Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
