Participants in government-sponsored forum voice opposition to war on Iraq

Twenty-two high school students who discussed the issue of peace in a workshop in a government-sponsored forum last summer were reunited on March 24 to publicly announce their opposition to the U.S. war on Iraq.

These students were participants in the National Youth Forum 2002 held in Tokyo in August.

Their appeal entitled, "We oppose war on Iraq," was released at a news conference held in Tokyo.

Explaining how they came to decide to issue an appeal, Kubo Tomohito, a high school senior said, "We in the workshop on peace learned how important it is for us to maintain peace in this world. The war on Iraq really makes our hearts ache. We agreed that we should do something that contributes to peace."

Reading the appeal, Ono Mika said, "We would like to call on more students to think about this issue."

The appeal said, "We will act together with all peace-loving people who are against the war in Iraq to stop the armed attack on Iraq as quickly as possible."(end)