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| Middle East |
| Japan urges its citizens to evacuate Iraq as soon as possible |
| 2003-01-24 |
TOKYO - The Japanese Embassy in Baghdad contacted each of its citizens residing in Iraq on Friday and urged them to evacuate the country as soon as possible, ahead of any potential U.S.-led strike, a Foreign Ministry official said. The move Friday came one day after Tokyo issued an advisory for Japanese citizens to leave Baghdad for others to postpone traveling there. The government already had an evacuation advisory for areas of Iraq outside the capital. There are currently 34 Japanese, including nine long-term residents and 14 media personnel, residing in Iraq, the Foreign Ministry said. The Japanese Embassy in Baghdad contacted each of those residents to make the recommendation Friday, a ministry official said. The sooner they leave Iraq the better, the official said on condition of anonymity. Japan's embassy in Baghdad will remain open as usual. Kyodo News agency said the embassy told Japanese in Iraq they should leave the country by next Wednesday, when the U.N. Security Council is scheduled to hold an unofficial meeting on the country. The United States has threatened to attack Iraq if United Nations inspectors discover Baghdad has been hiding a program to build weapons of mass destruction. Japan's Foreign Ministry has also warned Japanese to be cautious about traveling to Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. I'm looking for news that France and Germany are also closing their embassies. ( in the US that is.....) |
| Posted by:Frank Martin |