Japan's PM Koizumi plans to meet Bush on post-war Iraq: report

TOKYO (AFP) Apr 13, 2003
Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi plans to visit the United States next month for talks with President George W. Bush on the rebuilding of post-war Iraq and North Korea's nuclear threat, a report said Sunday.

The trip will be made in response to a request from Bush following the collapse of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime, the major Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun reported quoting foreign ministry sources.

Koizumi is considering travelling to Washington following his anticipated tour of Europe from late April to early May, the report said.

He wishes to meet Bush at the US presidential retreat of Camp David, Maryland, it added.

It has been reported but not yet officially confirmed that Koizumi will visit Britain and France during Japan's "Golden Week" holiday to discuss Iraq's postwar reconstruction with Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Jacques Chirac.

SPACE.WIRE