Kyoto religious leaders call for withdrawal of troops from Iraq

Kyoto's Buddhist and Christian leaders have sent a joint statement to 34 countries that have troops in Iraq, calling on them to bring their troops home.

On May 19, 20 religious leaders held a press conference at the Nishi Honganji Temple and announced that they will send the statement to the Japanese government and embassies of 33 countries, including the U.S. and British embassies, as well as a letter to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan expressing solidarity.

They are members of the Kyoto Liaison Council of Religious People for World Peace, including Miyagi Tainen, priest at the Shogoin Temple, and Kyoto Christian Council President Saeki Yukio.

The statement criticized the indiscriminate killings by the U.S. forces in Iraq as sinful acts against God and Buddha.

It demanded that the U.S. and British governments end the occupation and armed attacks on Iraqis, and called on other countries to withdraw their troops and support a U.N.-led assistance program for Iraq's reconstruction.

Stating that if Japan sticks to the deployment of the Self-Defense Forces in Iraq, it will isolate itself, together with the U.S. and Britain, from the rest of the world. The statement demanded that Japan strictly comply with the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution and immediately withdraw the SDF from Iraq. (end)