| THE ASAHI SHIMBUN A Japanese man shot and killed in Myanmar (Burma) on Thursday was identified as Kenji Nagai, a journalist working for Tokyo-based video production company APF News Inc., according to Foreign Ministry officials. Nagai, 50, was shot through his right chest during a military crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations around the Sule Pagoda in Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar's largest city, the officials said. He likely died instantly, they added. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Friday said he "wants to offer a message of sympathy." "Just as the United Nations, ASEAN and key countries are concerned, Japan is fully concerned (of the situation in Myanmar)," Fukuda told reporters at his office. After Nagai's death was confirmed, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said the Japanese government will lodge a strong protest to Myanmar and demand clarification of the details of his death. Fukuda said the Japanese government will see how things unfold in Myanmar before deciding on whether or not to impose sanctions. "Japan's aid (to Myanmar) consists mainly of humanitarian assistance, and sanctions should not be imposed hastily," he said. In a telephone conversation with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao earlier in the day, Fukuda explained that Japan wants military junta in Myanmar to make sincere efforts in handling the situation. Wen responded, "The international community must provide constructive assistance, and China is willing to play its part," according to sources. Nagai's parents, Hideo and Michiko, who live in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, were informed of their son's death by the Foreign Ministry on Thursday night. "I wasn't able to sleep at all last night, thinking a number of things about my son," Nagai's mother, Michiko, 75, told reporters Friday morning in front of their house. "I didn't even shed a single tear." Toru Yamaji, head of APF, met Nagai's parents and other relatives in Imabari on Friday morning. Although Nagai's family wanted to travel to Myanmar to claim his body, Yamaji said he would go instead, citing security reasons. The family agreed. Hideo, 82, is ailing and cannot walk without a cane. Michiko suffers from aches in her legs. An executive of APF went to the Myanmar Embassy in Tokyo on Friday morning to apply for a visa for Yamaji to enter the country. But the embassy refused the application, saying it stopped issuing visas on Friday. Yamaji plans to go to Thailand as early as Saturday to enter Myanmar. Nagai, who was visiting Bangkok for a different assignment, entered Myanmar on Tuesday, volunteering to cover the country's pro-democracy movements. It was his first visit to Myanmar, and he entered the country with a tourist visa, according to Myanmar's state-run television. Nagai called APF past noon on Thursday and told Yamaji that he planned to cover the demonstrations in Yangon. Nagai was experienced in covering war-stricken areas, such as Israel, Iraq and Jordan. Originally a freelance journalist, Nagai began working for APF under contract around 1997. APF, or Asia Press Front, was established in 1992 and has been producing programs mainly in war-torn areas, such as Iraq, Sri Lanka and Somalia. Myanmar's Foreign Ministry told the Japanese Embassy in Yangon at 4:45 p.m. Thursday (7:15 p.m. Japan time) that a man who was carrying a Japanese passport was killed, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. Around 6 p.m., embassy officials headed to the hospital where the body had been taken. They confirmed that the dead man was Nagai after sending pictures to his family in Japan. The Foreign Ministry on Thursday raised the threat level in the four-stage system to "Level 3" for Myanmar, advising Japanese to postpone any plans to visit the country.(IHT/Asahi: September 29,2007) |
Burma and my Ignorance