Japanese FM Leaves for Six-Nation TourJapanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono left Tokyo Monday for a six-nation tour which will take him to four Middle East countries, Sweden and Russia.During his visit to Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Kono plans to unveil a new initiative to step up security dialogue between the Mideast region and Japan, including a multilateral seminar with those four countries on Persian Gulf issues, Japanese officials said. After visiting the four countries, the Japanese foreign minister will travel to Sweden to hold talks with his Swedish and European Union counterparts. In Russia, Kono is expected to hold talks with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov to pave the way for Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's visit to Russia expected next month, the officials said. |
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