A senior Japanese official met with Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Saleki on Wednesday to press for an explanation of the gas plant siege, as Tokyo confirmed the deaths of two more nationals, taking its toll to nine.
Japanese Senior Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Shunichi Suzuki arrived aboard a government jet that is to repatriate the bodies of those known to have been killed in the hostage crisis, along with the seven Japanese who survived.
Tokyo announced late on Wednesday that it knew for sure that nine Japanese were killed after Islamist gunmen overran the desert facility. One Japanese citizen remains unaccounted for.
“Unfortunately, we have been able to confirm two more deaths,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.
Seventeen Japanese were at the facility in Amenas when jihadists struck on Jan. 16 at the start of a four-day siege that left dozens of foreigners dead.
Suzuki carried a letter to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Suga said in Tokyo.
As well as Saleki, Suzuki also met Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mourad Medelci, Japan’s Kyodo News reported, citing Tokyo’s foreign ministry.
Japan has asked Algeria to fully investigate events at the gas plant and exactly how individuals died, Suga said in Tokyo.
Algeria has said that 37 foreigners of eight different nationalities and an Algerian were killed in the siege, which ended on Saturday.
Several are still missing and the bodies of others are so charred, they have not been identified.
The visit came as it emerged that Britain, Japan, the US and other countries whose nationals were caught up in the events at the plant issued a joint demarche to Algeria on Friday last week.
A demarche is a formal diplomatic move in which a country’s stance is conveyed in person to another government.
In a call, Japanese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Minoru Kiuchi told Medelci that Tokyo wanted Algiers to protect captives.
“Japan is strongly concerned about acts that put the lives of the hostages at risk and it is regrettable that the Algerian government pressed military rescue operations,” he said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese