Japanese PM Says Antiwar Protests Send Wrong Message to Iraq

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, February 18, 2003

Japanese PM Says Antiwar Protests Send Wrong Message to Iraq

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday chastised people who demonstrated around the world over the weekend against a US-led war, saying such actions could give a wrong message to Iraq.

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Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday chastised people who demonstrated around the world over the weekend against a US-led war, saying such actions could give a wrong message to Iraq.

"They have to be careful lest they send the wrong message that Iraq is right," Koizumi was quoted by Kyodo News as saying to a press conference.

Asked what a Friday report to the UN Security Council from UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix meant, Koizumi said, "That meant that Iraq's cooperation is insufficient."

"The ball is in Iraq's court," he said. "The international community needs to send Iraq a message saying, 'You need to cooperate sooner and more completely'."

According to Kyodo, Blix told the Security Council that Iraq has yet to account for all biological and chemical weapons banned by the United Nations.

Twelve countries in the 15-member council expressed support forcontinuing the inspections, despite efforts by the United States and Britain to get endorsement to use military force against Iraq,Kyodo added.

Meanwhile, the governor of central Japan's Tokushima Prefecture urged Japan to restrain the US and Britain from rushingtoward attacking Iraq.

"The government should lobby the US and Britain to prevent themfrom going to war because time has run out", Tokushima Governor Tadashi Ota said, also urging Iraq to cooperate more fully.

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