Letters Sent by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the UN, and Prime Minister Nori K. Al-Maliky of Iraq, to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Airlift-Support by the Japan Self-Defense Forces for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and for the Multi-National Forces

March 20, 2007

1.   With regard to airlift-support based on the Special Measures Law on Iraq carried out by Japan's Air-Self Defense Force, a letter sent by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, was delivered from the United Nations Secretariat to the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations on March 16 (Fri) (US Time).  Prior to this letter, another letter sent by Mr. Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, Special Representative of the Secretary-General, was delivered to Mr. Takashi Ashiki, Japanese Chargee d’Affaires ad interim to Iraq, via the United Nations Secretariat on March 11 (Sun).
    These letters express the UN’s appreciation for the continuous provision of the airlift-support by the Japan Air Self-Defense Forces for personnel and cargo of the UN (UNAMI), and stress that this assistance is very important to the UN in providing humanitarian and other kinds of assistance in Iraq.

 2.   Related to the above, a letter sent by Prime Minister Nori K. Al-Maliky of Iraq, addressed to Prime Minister Abe was delivered from the Government of Iraq to the Japanese Embassy in Iraq on March 12 (Mon) (Iraq Time).  The letter states that the airlift-support provided by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force to the UN (UNAMI) and the Multi-National Forces plays a major and crucial role in the efforts for the reconstruction of Iraq.

Related Information (The Issue of Iraq)