Press Releases

On July 2, commencing at 1:35 p.m. for approximately 20 minutes, Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, held a telephone talk with H. E. Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, following the restaurant hostage-taking incident in Bangladesh. The overview of the meeting is as follows.

1 At the beginning of the meeting, Prime Minister Abe made the following statements. 

1. Regarding the incident in which an armed group barricaded itself in a restaurant in Dhaka, Masato Watanabe, Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh, is calling for the incident to be handled by giving top priority to the lives of the Japanese nationals who may have been caught up in the incident.
2. As the authorities entered the building a short time ago, I request Bangladesh to provide information about the facts on the ground, including the safety of the Japanese nationals.
3. We will dispatch State Minister for Foreign Affairs Seiji Kihara and the Counter Terrorism Unit - Japan to respond to the incident, and we request for your support. 
4. This kind of inhumane and despicable act could never be justified by any reason, and we strongly condemns such acts.

2 In response to this, Prime Minister Hasina made the following statements. 

1. The operation is completed. 
2. We are yet to confirm the overall picture regarding the situation of the victims. However, 13 people have been rescued: three of them are foreign nationals, including one Japanese national. This one Japanese national is being taken care in a hospital together with the other injured people. 
3. We made our utmost effort, giving the top priority to saving lives. However, it is regrettable that fatalities have occurred. We are taking every possible step to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals living in Bangladesh and diplomatic facilities. 

3 In response to this, Prime Minister Abe made the following statements. 

1. It is extremely regrettable that fatalities have occurred. Considering a possibility that several other Japanese nationals were also in the restaurant, we request Bangladesh to  continue efforts to confirm their safety.
2. Regarding the Japanese victims, I request for the utmost support of Bangladesh particularly for medical treatment and repatriation. As a large number of Japanese nationals reside in Bangladesh, we request Bangladesh to continue to take every possible measure to ensure the safety of the Japanese nationals.