Japan Lodges Protest With Myanmar

[struggle4progress]

Source: Associated Press

By CHISAKI WATANABE – 1 hour ago

TOKYO (AP) — Japan lodged a protest with Myanmar over the death of a Japanese journalist during a crackdown on protesters and said it will dispatch a senior official to press the country to respond to international concerns, an official said Saturday.

Kenji Nagai, 50, was among at least nine people killed Thursday when soldiers fired automatic weapons into a crowd of pro-democracy demonstrators.

Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura protested Nagai's death, calling it "extremely regrettable," in a meeting with Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win at U.N. headquarters in New York on Friday, according to a Foreign Ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing protocol.

Nyan Win said he was "extremely sorry" for the death, and added that the Myanmar government hopes to exercise self-restraint, the official said ...

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gJo1pL9p-T-viGDqXUntiqA7QnzQD8RUS9880

Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gJo1pL9p-T-viGDqXUntiqA7QnzQD8RUS9880

[Eugene]

1. Myanmar apologizes for journalist's death: Kyodo

Source: Reuters

Myanmar apologizes for journalist's death: Kyodo
Fri Sep 28, 2007 11:33pm EDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan strongly protested to Myanmar
over the killing of a Japanese video journalist during an
anti-government rally, and Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan
Win offered apologies, Kyodo news agency said on
Saturday.

Fifty-year-old Kenji Nagai was fatally wounded in Yangon
on Thursday, and pictures smuggled out of the country
showed him clutching a camera as he lay dying.

Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura made the
protest when he met his Myanmar counterpart at U.N.
headquarters in New York on Friday.

-snip-

Nyan Win told Komura he was indeed sorry for the death,
telling Japanese officials: "Demonstrations are beginning
to calm down, and we would also like to exercise
restraint," Kyodo said.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUST7264920070929

[Norrin Radd]

3. Oops! Our bad...

Sickening.

[tekisui]

4. Did they apologize to the Monks?

Or the people of Myanmar?

[Lucinda]

2. Is that enough for Japan?

Or are they likely to take any action?
I dont know much about Burma/Japan relations...

[rpannier]

5. Japan provides humanitarian aid to Burma

Sadly, the Japanese foreign minister has ruled out ANY sanctions.

--At a press conference he was asked and said the Japanese government had ruled out sanctions as counterproductive-- KBSTV in Korea showed the press conference.

[nebula]

6. What can you expect?

a foreign journalist goes to work in a country with one of the most
brutal governments in the world. this is a country that has a habit of executing
its own people on the spot. it has no free press and and despises
independent reporters.

do foreign journalists tend to have a death wish?
the outcome is tragic, but completely predictable.