JCP Ogata discusses Iraq question with Qatar officials

Ogata Yasuo, Japanese Communist Party International Bureau Director and House of Councilors member, visited senior Qatar officials on October 23 to discuss ways to bring a peaceful resolution to the Iraqi question.

At the office of the Advisory Council to the Emir in Doha, Domestic and Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Eissa Al-Kuwari welcomed Ogata's visit.

Al-Kuwari stressed that a war against Iraq would cause tremendous damage to Middle East and Persian Gulf countries, and that no country is allowed to overthrow another country's government using military force.

Ogata said that their visit to the region is to seek a way toward a peaceful solution to the Iraqi problem and asked about the position of Qatar, which has chaired the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) for two years, on the issue.

Al-Kuwari said that even after the 1991 Gulf War, Qatar has maintained its diplomatic ties with Iraq. To cope with the present serious situation, Qatar sent its foreign minister to Iraq last month and proposed to President Saddam Hussein that Iraq observe U.N. resolutions and unconditionally accept U.N. inspections of weapons of mass destruction.

Explaining that Qatar has accepted both Palestinian delegates and the Israeli trade office in Doha and called on Israel to seek a peaceful solution of the Palestine-Israel question, Al-Kuwari said that Qatar is pushing forward with an open foreign policy, making much of dialogues with all countries concerned to solve problems.

At Qatar's Foreign Ministry, Asian and African Affairs Department Director Abdul Rahman Al Khulaifi told Ogata that he expects Japan to actively work to achieve peace in the region.

Al Khulaifi denied that Iraq poses a military threat to the Middle East and Gulf region and said that any attempt to change the Iraqi regime with force can't be justified.

As for relations with the United States, Al Khulaifi said that Qatar is a friend of the U.S. hosting U.S. bases but at the same time has always pointed out frankly what the U.S. should be aware of.

He stated that the U.S. government should make more efforts to solve the matter using diplomatic means within the U.N. framework and should not resort to war as a single option.

Senior officials of Qatar asked Ogata many questions about the JCP. They were astonished to hear Ogata saying that the JCP criticized the then Soviet Union in 1979 for invading Afghanistan and that the party welcomed the Soviet Union's collapse as good for social progress.

They said that JCP representatives' visit was beneficial to them and wished to continue exchanges between Qatar and the JCP. (end)