Japan Press Weekly

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2008 August 27 - September 2 [SDF]

Shii laments the death of a young Japanese NGO aid worker in Afghanistan

Expressing his deep condolences on the death of Ito Kazuya, a young Japanese agricultural aid worker with the NGO Peshawar-kai who was murdered by an armed thug in Afghanistan, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo stressed the importance of political and diplomatic efforts to end the horrendous security situation that forms a backdrop to the tragedy.

In an interview on an “Asahi Newstar” communication satellite TV program on August 28, Shii expressed anger at the killing of Ito, saying, “It’s indeed regrettable that a Japanese youth who had been working hard to provide agricultural aid to local Afghan people was murdered.”

Shii pointed out that the worsening social order in Afghanistan is behind the tragedy and that the U.S. led-retaliatory war is adding fuel to the hatred that exists among the Afghans and is only helping spread violence.

Shii went on to say, “The policy of responding to terrorism militarily is now at an impasse. The need now is a political, diplomatic peace process with public support to eliminate poverty and hunger.”

Concerning the continuing refueling mission of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force in the Indian Ocean as sought by the government, Shii said, “Assisting the U.S. military is completely different from what the local people need.”