Japanese diplomat says ‘no plans’ to visit Iraq

[54anickel]

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_13-4-2004_pg4_1

AMMAN: Senior Japanese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ichiro Aisawa said here on Monday that he had “no plans” to visit Iraq despite a demand made by Iraqi insurgents holding three Japanese hostages.

Asked by Japanese reporters if he planned on going to Iraq as requested by the kidnappers, Aisawa said: “At the moment I have no plans to go to Iraq. “We don’t know if there is any veracity in these demands,” Aisawa told Japanese reporters in reference to demands by the hostage-takers reported by self-described Iraqi mediator Mezher Dulaimi.

Dulaimi has said the hostage-takers want Aisawa to visit Fallujah to “see the massacres perpetrated by US forces.” Aisawa, who heads a crisis cell set up at the Japanese embassy in Amman, said that he had “no confirmation on anything” concerning the hostages.

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“We the United States promise to make every effort to resolve the situation,” the foreign ministry official quoted Cheney as telling Koizumi after the premier expressed his appreciation for US cooperation over the hostage crisis.