Press Conference by the Press Secretary 9 February, 1999

1. Attendance of Their Imperial Highnesses the Crown Prince and Crown Princess and Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi at the state funeral of the late King Hussein bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
2. Visit of Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura to the Republic of Korea
3. Meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) to assist the Palestinian people
4. Scheduling of the visit of Their Imperial Highnesses the Crown Prince and Crown Princess to attend the state funeral of the late King Hussein bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
5. Meetings between Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and world leaders on the periphery of the state funeral of the late King Hussein bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
6. Status of bilateral aid from Japan to the Republic of India
7. Ninth Japan-Pakistan Joint Commission Meeting

1. Attendance of Their Imperial Highnesses the Crown Prince and Crown Princess and Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi at the state funeral of the late King Hussein bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

   Deputy Press Secretary Masaki Okada: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. First of all, over the weekend there was sad news from the Middle East. I would like to repeat the statement made by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi on the demise of His Majesty King Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, "Upon hearing the passing of His Majesty King Hussein bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, I should like to extend to the members of the Royal Family and the people of the Kingdom, my most sincere sympathy and condolences on behalf of the Government and the people of Japan. We highly appreciate the late King's great contribution to the Kingdom's current prosperity and to the stability in the Middle East since he succeeded the throne in 1953. We are deeply saddened by the demise of King Hussein, especially because His Majesty visited Japan four times in his life and he has been known as a great friend of Japan. We sincerely hope that the soul of King Hussein will rest in peace and that the people of Jordan will overcome this sorrow. It is also our hope that the people of Jordan will continue to uphold the ideals of the late King by assuring further developments of the Kingdom and making further efforts for peace in the world, particularly for a lasting peace in the Middle East. I firmly believe that the existing friendship between our two countries will further flourish under the competent guidance of the new King." On 8 February, Their Imperial Highnesses the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess as well as Prime Minister Obuchi participated in the funeral of the late King Hussein of Jordan on behalf of the Government and people of Japan. During their stay in Amman, Their Imperial Highnesses and Prime Minister Obuchi met many world leaders and will return home this afternoon.

   Related Information (Japan-Jordan Relations)
   
2. Visit of Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura to the Republic of Korea

   Deputy Press Secretary Masaki Okada: Secondly, I would like to announce the visit of Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura to the Republic of Korea tomorrow. Upon the invitation of Foreign Minister Hong Soon Young of the Republic of Korea, Foreign Minister Koumura will visit the Republic of Korea tomorrow and conduct meetings on Thursday, 11 February. This visit of Foreign Minister Koumura constitutes part of our efforts to further strengthen consultation and dialogue between our two countries at the level of Heads of Government and Ministers which is prescribed in the Joint Declaration issued at the visit of President Kim Dae Jung of the Republic of Korea last October. We would like to further develop the Japan-Republic of Korea partnership toward the 21st century through the meeting with Foreign Minister Hong as well as the call on President Kim. At the meeting of the Foreign Ministers, we foresee that there would be an exchange of opinions, in particular on bilateral relations as well as our policies related to North Korea.

   Related Information (Japan-Republic of Korea Relations)
   
3. Meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) to assist the Palestinian people

   Deputy Press Secretary Masaki Okada: My last statement is concerning the meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee to assist the Palestinian people (AHLC). At the meeting of the AHLC held on 4 February in Frankfurt, Japan offered to host the next meeting in Japan, and it was agreed to hold the meeting in Tokyo no later than September this year. It will be co-chaired by Foreign Minister Knut VollebFk of Norway, permanent chair of AHLC, and Foreign Minister Koumura. High-level participants are expected at the next meeting, including Minister for Planning and International Cooperation Dr. Nabeel Sha'ath of the Palestinian Authority, Foreign Minister VollebFk and others. AHLC, which meets twice a year, was established in October 1993 at the Washington Conference to support Middle East peace in order to coordinate and promote assistance efforts of individual donors for the Palestinian people. The next meeting in Tokyo, which will take place after such major political events as the termination of the Palestinian interim self-government period on 4 May and the general elections in the State of Israel, will be extremely important for the Middle East peace process.

   Related Information (Japan-Middle East Relations)
   
4. Scheduling of the visit of Their Imperial Highnesses the Crown Prince and Crown Princess to attend the state funeral of the late King Hussein bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

   Q: The Crown Prince and Crown Princess left to Amman on short notice. Is this significant for Japan for members of the Imperial Family to leave on such short notice to a state funeral?

   Mr. Okada: In the case of funerals, the preparation must always be on a very short notice. As I quoted the statement made by Prime Minister Obuchi, we have traditionally had good relations with Jordan, including the very friendly relations between the Royal Family of Jordan and the Imperial Family. Their Imperial Highnesses the Crown Prince and Crown Princess visited Jordan and were very welcomed by the Jordanian people. Therefore, it was quite natural that Their Imperial Highnesses visited Jordan at this very sad occasion.

   Related Information (Japan-Jordan Relations)
   
5. Meetings between Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and world leaders on the periphery of the state funeral of the late King Hussein bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

   Q: Prime Minister Obuchi held some meetings with other world leaders. Did this include Arab or Israeli leaders among them?

   Mr. Okada: There were quite many. These meetings were held only on the periphery of this state funeral, therefore the meetings themselves did not last such a long time. They met quite many leaders, for example Prime Minister Obuchi met President William Clinton of the United States, President Jacques Chirac of the French Republic, Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom, His Highness Crown Prince Abdullah of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, President Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian National Authority, President Ali Abdullah Saleh of the Republic of Yemen and President Hafez al-Assad of the Syrian Arab Republic. These were substantial though short meetings. They exchanged views on the Middle East situation and bilateral relations. In addition to His Highness and those gentlemen, Prime Minister Obuchi also met Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of the Federal Republic of Germany, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu of the State of Israel, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, His Majesty Sultan Qabus Bin Said of the Sultanate of Oman, President Hosni Mubarak of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Secretary General Kofi Annan of the United Nations and President James D. Wolfensohn of the World Bank Group and so on. There are many people who Prime Minister Obuchi met.

   Q: I read in some reports that Prime Minister Obuchi and President Clinton agreed to support Jordan and the Middle East with specific matters.

   Mr. Okada: As I told you, it was a meeting of just a few minutes between the leaders. As far as I know, we are receiving reports from Amman that President Clinton said that their presence at this state funeral is very significant, very important. Prime Minister Obuchi, in agreeing with this comment by President Clinton, said that our assistance to Jordan is very vital and he also mentioned that he would like to have a successful visit to the United States which might take place this year.

   Q: There are some reports that the President of Yemen will visit Japan next month. Could you please confirm that.

   Mr. Okada: I have no information about that at the present time.

   Related Information (Japan-Jordan Relations)
   
6. Status of bilateral aid from Japan to the Republic of India

   Q: We understand that World Bank and IMF loans to India may soon be resumed. What about Japan's bilateral aid? When and how is that going to be restored?

   Mr. Okada: As for the loans from the World Bank to India, the relevant countries are still consulting. We cannot say that the loan to India will soon be resumed. We are now constantly consulting with the United States and other countries, in particular the member states of the Group of Seven (G7). As I already announced here, there will be a Senior Officials meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan this week on 11 February and through this kind of meeting we further continue our consultations among the countries concerned.

   Related Information (Japan-India Relations)
   
7. Ninth Japan-Pakistan Joint Commission Meeting

   Q: The Japan-Pakistan bilateral aid talks are going to be held in Islamabad on 16 February.

   Mr. Okada: It is the 9th Japan-Pakistan Joint Committee Meeting. We will be talking about bilateral relations and also in general international affairs including nuclear non-proliferation. The agenda is very broad. We will take up various items there.

   Related Information (Japan-Pakistan Relations)