Foreign minister: Japan won't ask U.N. weapons inspectors to resume activities in Iraq

Foreign Minister Kawaguchi Yoriko in a House of Councilors committee meeting on July 10 rejected a Japanese Communist Party representative's demand that Japan urge the United Nations to resume inspections on weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in Iraq.

In his questioning in the House committee on foreign affairs and defense meeting, Koizumi Chikashi of the JCP said that the government must not obscure the question of alleged WMDs in Iraq which the government used as the reason for supporting the war but which have not been found to date. (end)