Arafat confers with Japanese foreign minister
Palestine-Japan, Politics, 1/11/1999

The talks held in Ramallah on Sunday between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura who arrived in the Palestinian territories earlier in the day dealt with the stalemate on the agreements signed between Israel and the Palestinian government as well as Japanese economic support for the Palestinian Authority.

The Japanese government has rendered to the Palestinian government financial support estimated at US $380 million since 1994, Israeli radio reported.

Furthermore, Japan has announced support for the Palestinian people's legitimate rights, including their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent states on their native soil.

In statements he made in Ramallah on Sunday following his meeting with Yasser Arafat, Komura expressed his country's concern over Israel's freezing of implementing the Wye agreement. He called on the Israeli government to be committed to the agreement.

The Japanese foreign minister declared that his government would allocate US $200 million over the coming two years for Gaza Airport, stressing Tokyo's continuation of financial and economic support for the Palestinians.

Following the meeting with Arafat, Komura opened a hospital in Jericho, financed by the Japanese government. Komura also met with members of the Palestinian National Council.

Earlier, the official spokesman for the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Masaki Okada, reiterated that his country "calls upon the Israeli government to implement relevant UN security council resolutions pertaining to the Middle East peace process, particularly resolution 242."

In a press conference held in the Palestinian territories on Saturday evening on the occasion of the Japanese foreign minister's visit to the Palestinian areas together with members of an accompanying delegation, Okada stressed that Japan backs the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, especially their right to establish an independent Palestinian state of their own.

The visit of the Japanese FM to the Middle East region is a reaffirmation of Japan's determination to continue its contribution to bolstering peace and stability in the Middle East. But Okada explained that: "Japan is going about its role in its own way."

So far, the Japanese Foreign Minister has visited Egypt, Lebanon and Syria and now Jordan with the aim of acquainting these countries with Japan's views on the possibility of consolidating peace in the Middle East.

Previous Stories:
  Lebanese Presidents confers with Japanese FM   (1/9/1999)
  Japanese foreign minsiter concludes two-day visit to Damascus   (1/9/1999)
  Japanese foreign minister in Egypt   (1/8/1999)

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