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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Koizumi to visit Middle East next month |
| 2005-12-02 |
| TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will visit the Middle East next month for talks with Israeli, Palestinian and Turkish officials and hopes of playing a mediating role in the region, a newspaper reported on Friday. Koizumi is to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his visit, expected to start around Jan. 5 and to last for around 10 days, the Sankei newspaper said, quoting Japanese government sources. Japan has sought to play a role in efforts toward peace in the Middle East, and it invited Abbas and Sharon to visit Japan earlier this year. Abbas visited Japan in May and urged Tokyo to exert its political influence for Middle East peace, saying Japan had balanced relations with the region. In Turkey, Koizumi will meet Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to discuss strengthening bilateral ties, the newspaper said, adding that Koizumi would be the first Japanese prime minister to visit Turkey in 15 years. Another aim of his trip to Turkey will be to discuss policies toward Iraq, the paper added. Asked about the report, Japanese Foreign Ministry officials said no decisions had been made regarding such a trip by Koizumi. |
| Posted by:Steve White |