Japanese PM Names Top Foreign Affairs Adviser

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, April 15, 2003

Japanese PM Names Top Foreign Affairs Adviser

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday appointed Yukio Okamoto as his top foreign affairs adviser, Kyodo reported.

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Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday appointed Yukio Okamoto as his top foreign affairs adviser, Kyodo reported.

"We expect him to advise and give opinions to the prime minister based on his high knowledge and experience," Kyodo quotedChief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda as saying.

Explaining why Okamoto was promoted, Fukuda cited "the status problem amid increasing works on foreign affairs."

Okamoto, diplomatic adviser to the Cabinet Secretariat, is expected to put his immediate priority on Japan's role in the postwar Iraq affairs.

Shortly before the appointment at a morning cabinet meeting, Okamoto stressed that Japan should play an active role in the Middle East affairs and in Iraq's reconstruction.

"To help achieve stability in the Middle East, Japan should take a lead in reviving and rebuilding Iraq," he said in a Tuesday interview with Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK), citing Japan's deep involvement in the constructions in Iraq before the 1991 Gulf War.

He noted that Japan has to think about the entire Arab world bylending a helping hand to Egypt, Jordan and other neighboring countries.

Under the revised Cabinet Law enacted by former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, a prime minister can appoint up to five special advisers on specific issues such as administrative reforms and national security.

The post, modeled on the US system of presidential advisers, was created in an attempt to strengthen the functions of the prime minister's office.

Koizumi has so far appointed two aides, Toru Makino, who advises on urban affairs policy, and Takumi Nemoto, on administrative reforms.

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