Seraphim
12-04-2003, 06:15 AM
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/afp/20031204/wl_mideast_afp/japan_iraq_attack_031204101327&e=2
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20031204/capt.sge.lff20.041203101206.photo00.default-384x329.jpg
Family members of the two slain Japanese diplomats travel to collect the bodies. The two men's remains returned home December 4 to be met by an honour guard and senior Japanese officials(AFP/File)
NARITA, Japan (AFP) - The bodies of two Japanese diplomats killed in Iraq (news - web sites) arrived back in Japan to an honour guard as a report said Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi had approved the dispatch of around 1,100 troops to the country.
Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and other senior government officials in mourning dress were on the tarmac at Narita Airport, east of Tokyo, as the plain wooden coffins accompanied by grieving relatives arrived shortly before 3:30 pm (0630 GMT).
Their return came as the top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun said Koizumi had approved the sending of troops after hearing a report from his defense chief.
The prime minister concluded that a certain level of safety could be ensured around Samawa in southern Iraq, where Japanese ground troops are to be sent, the newspaper said, quoting sources close to the government.
An advance unit of Air Self-Defense Forces troops will be sent before the end of the year, followed by transport units early next year, it said.
The Mainichi Shimbun said the government is preparing to send the advance air team to Kuwait and other countries surrounding Iraq before year-end, with the main unit to start flights into Iraq in January.
The government may still dispatch ground troops before the end of the year, but a final decision has not been taken, the Yomiuri said.
The basic plan on the dispatch of troops to assist with humanitarian needs and logistic support to US and British troops is expected to be approved by the cabinet on Monday at the earliest, the paper said.
At Narita Airport an honour guard formed by a detachment of 12 policemen in black ceremonial uniform carried the coffins of the two diplomats, draped with Japanese national flags, from the Japan Airlines commercial plane to waiting hearses.
The relatives stood to one side as the pallbearers passed at a slow march. Many wept or prayed during the silent ceremony.
The two diplomats, Katsuhiko Oku, 45, and Masamori Inoue, 30, were shot dead along with their 54-year-old Iraqi driver in an ambush Saturday near the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit, the hometown of ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).
The slain mens' widows, children and other relatives left Japan Monday for Kuwait, where the US military had transported the bodies for repatriation.
The diplomats, who were not accompanied by armed guards, had been on the way to Tikrit to attend a conference on reconstruction efforts in northern Iraq.
Their deaths, Japan's first Iraq war losses, have sparked a wave of mourning at home.
The foreign ministry posthumously promoted the diplomats by two ranks, effective retroactively from November 29, the day they were killed, making Oku an ambassador and Inoue a first secretary.
Japanese police plan to carry out autopsies on the bodies to determine the arms used in the ambush and other details.
In Tikrit, police and medical staff had revealed that Iraqi surgeons had battled for nearly three hours to try to save the life of one of the two diplomats, believed to be Oku.
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20031204/capt.sge.lff20.041203101206.photo00.default-384x329.jpg
Family members of the two slain Japanese diplomats travel to collect the bodies. The two men's remains returned home December 4 to be met by an honour guard and senior Japanese officials(AFP/File)
NARITA, Japan (AFP) - The bodies of two Japanese diplomats killed in Iraq (news - web sites) arrived back in Japan to an honour guard as a report said Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi had approved the dispatch of around 1,100 troops to the country.
Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and other senior government officials in mourning dress were on the tarmac at Narita Airport, east of Tokyo, as the plain wooden coffins accompanied by grieving relatives arrived shortly before 3:30 pm (0630 GMT).
Their return came as the top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun said Koizumi had approved the sending of troops after hearing a report from his defense chief.
The prime minister concluded that a certain level of safety could be ensured around Samawa in southern Iraq, where Japanese ground troops are to be sent, the newspaper said, quoting sources close to the government.
An advance unit of Air Self-Defense Forces troops will be sent before the end of the year, followed by transport units early next year, it said.
The Mainichi Shimbun said the government is preparing to send the advance air team to Kuwait and other countries surrounding Iraq before year-end, with the main unit to start flights into Iraq in January.
The government may still dispatch ground troops before the end of the year, but a final decision has not been taken, the Yomiuri said.
The basic plan on the dispatch of troops to assist with humanitarian needs and logistic support to US and British troops is expected to be approved by the cabinet on Monday at the earliest, the paper said.
At Narita Airport an honour guard formed by a detachment of 12 policemen in black ceremonial uniform carried the coffins of the two diplomats, draped with Japanese national flags, from the Japan Airlines commercial plane to waiting hearses.
The relatives stood to one side as the pallbearers passed at a slow march. Many wept or prayed during the silent ceremony.
The two diplomats, Katsuhiko Oku, 45, and Masamori Inoue, 30, were shot dead along with their 54-year-old Iraqi driver in an ambush Saturday near the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit, the hometown of ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).
The slain mens' widows, children and other relatives left Japan Monday for Kuwait, where the US military had transported the bodies for repatriation.
The diplomats, who were not accompanied by armed guards, had been on the way to Tikrit to attend a conference on reconstruction efforts in northern Iraq.
Their deaths, Japan's first Iraq war losses, have sparked a wave of mourning at home.
The foreign ministry posthumously promoted the diplomats by two ranks, effective retroactively from November 29, the day they were killed, making Oku an ambassador and Inoue a first secretary.
Japanese police plan to carry out autopsies on the bodies to determine the arms used in the ambush and other details.
In Tikrit, police and medical staff had revealed that Iraqi surgeons had battled for nearly three hours to try to save the life of one of the two diplomats, believed to be Oku.