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| Afghanistan/South Asia | |
| Koizumi hails Pak efforts in war on terror | |
| 2005-05-02 | |
| ISLAMABAD — Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi left Pakistan yesterday after a two-day visit in which he lifted a seven-year freeze on yen loans and agreed to a plan to develop ties between the countries. Koizumi held wide-ranging talks with President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday, conveying Tokyo's concern over nuclear proliferation after revelations about an illegal nuclear network run by Pakistan's top scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. At a joint news conference with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Koizumi said he had told President Musharraf that "Japan has been striving for elimination of nuclear weapons and for nonproliferation of nuclear weapons. In return, President Musharraf expressed his view, and said he does understand that position of the government of Japan, and that in the future both two countries should be able to work jointly in the same direction." Chiba said President Musharraf reassured Koizumi that the nuclear proliferation that had taken place was an "individual action" without the involvement of Pakistan's government or military, and that tight controls were in place to prevent its recurrence.
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| Posted by:Steve White |