Courtesy Call on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi by Trainees from the Al-Muthanna TV Station of Iraq

September 28, 2004

1. A group of Al-Muthanna TV Station staff, who are visiting Japan from Iraq to participate in training programs, paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
   
   
2. Prime Minister Koizumi first asked the trainees questions about the training programs and stated that he expected they would put what they had learned in the training to good use when they returned home to Iraq.
   
   
3. In reply to a question from Prime Minister Koizumi concerning what they think of the Japan Self-Defense Forces on dispatch in Samawah, the representative of the group, Mr. Saad Al-Joober stated that the people of Samawah set a high valuation on the SDF and therefore the expectations were very large.
   
   
4. In response, Prime Minister Koizumi expressed that he was greatly encouraged to hear of the high evaluation of the SDF, and that Japan strongly hoped for Iraq's swift reconstruction as a stable and democratic country. He stated also that he expected the people of Iraq to make efforts not to give in to terrorism, and that a wider range of assistance activities, including those by the private sector, would be possible once the country became stable. To this end, he stated that it is important that the international community as a whole, including Japan, assist Iraq, and what is even more important is that the country be rebuilt with the will and efforts of the Iraqi people themselves.
   
   
5. Finally, Prime Minister Koizumi asked about the trainees' life in Japan, and expressed his respect for their efforts over their long-term stay in Japan.