Iraq criticizes statements by Japanese Foreign Minister

The Iraqi daily "Iraq" has criticized what it described as Japanese support for the US in its confrontation with Iraq saying, "This country," Japan, "has behaved as Iraq had dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

In its Wednesday editorial, the Iraqi daily described statements made recently by Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura concerning the US-British air strikes on Iraq as full of "lies and hatred towards Iraq." It added this Japanese stand reflects the subjugation of the Japanese government to US policy, saying that Japan does what the "US instructs."

The paper added that Iraq had last year opened a new page in its relations with Japan, but "it seems that the Japanese government has been hit by the complex of what is called fears of America."

Komura had stated that the reason for the air strikes launched by the US and Britain on Iraq in December 1998 was "the behavior of the Iraqi government."