|
At a press conference in the afternoon of January 17, DPJ President Banri Kaieda expressed concern for foreign nationals, including Japanese citizens, being held as hostages by al Qaeda-linked armed insurgents at a natural gas installation in In Amenas, southeast Algeria, and condemned in the strongest terms the attack on the installation on January 16 by the insurgents. “Terrorism against defenseless citizens is absolutely unforgivable,” Kaieda stated.
Kaieda expressed his willingness to cooperate with government actions to resolve the incident, stating, “Placing the highest priority on the safety of the lives of the hostages, our party will make its utmost effort to cooperate with measures toward the resolution of this incident by the Government of Japan, related nations, relevant institutions, and other related parties.” He requested that the Government to work to gather accurate information on the situation as soon as possible and share that information with the DPJ and all other relevant parties.
Kaieda was asked whether related governments should accept some requests from the insurgents with the view to preserving the lives of the hostages. Along with pointing out the complicated background of the case, such as domestic issues in Algeria and military actions by France based on a resolution of the United Nations, Kaieda commented, “However, I think we have to request that related nations place the highest priority on human lives.”.
|
