ID :
13896
Sat, 07/26/2008 - 19:26
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/13896
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Pelosi to visit Hiroshima for Sept. confab, flower tributes
WASHINGTON, July 26 Kyodo - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi will travel to Hiroshima to participate in a Group of Eight lower house chiefs' meeting and to offer flowers at a monument to atomic-bomb victims, her close aide said Saturday.
Pelosi would be the highest-ranking incumbent U.S. dignitary to visit the world's first atom-bombed city. As House speaker, she stands behind only Vice President Dick Cheney in the line of succession to the U.S. presidency.
Her visit appears highly unusual because she has to chair the Democratic National Convention in Denver in late August to nominate Illinois Sen.
Barack Obama as the party's candidate for U.S. president. It may be a reflection of her stated firm commitment to peace and human rights.
Pelosi will head for Japan after the Aug. 25-28 convention and stay for a few days centering on Sept. 1-3, when the seventh annual G-8 Speakers' Meeting takes place, the aide told Kyodo News.
During the trip, she has no plans to stop in other Asian nations such as China, which will host the Beijing Olympics on Aug. 8-24, and South Korea, the aide added.
The aide stopped short of commenting on the political implications stemming from a U.S. dignitary's visit to Hiroshima, the city on which the United States dropped an atomic bomb during World War II, saying only that Hiroshima is the venue for the G-8 meeting.
Pelosi's visit is a result of overtures made by Japanese officials since over a year ago to U.S. congressional officials and former senior government people for the session in Hiroshima, sources familiar with the process said.
In addition to Pelosi, the G-8 Speakers' Meeting will bring together Yohei Kono, speaker of Japan's House of Representatives and chair of the talks, and other G-8 lower house speakers, as well as European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is one of the prominent American figures to visit Hiroshima. He traveled to the city in 1984, visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum that features materials on the atomic bombing.
The G-8 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.
Pelosi would be the highest-ranking incumbent U.S. dignitary to visit the world's first atom-bombed city. As House speaker, she stands behind only Vice President Dick Cheney in the line of succession to the U.S. presidency.
Her visit appears highly unusual because she has to chair the Democratic National Convention in Denver in late August to nominate Illinois Sen.
Barack Obama as the party's candidate for U.S. president. It may be a reflection of her stated firm commitment to peace and human rights.
Pelosi will head for Japan after the Aug. 25-28 convention and stay for a few days centering on Sept. 1-3, when the seventh annual G-8 Speakers' Meeting takes place, the aide told Kyodo News.
During the trip, she has no plans to stop in other Asian nations such as China, which will host the Beijing Olympics on Aug. 8-24, and South Korea, the aide added.
The aide stopped short of commenting on the political implications stemming from a U.S. dignitary's visit to Hiroshima, the city on which the United States dropped an atomic bomb during World War II, saying only that Hiroshima is the venue for the G-8 meeting.
Pelosi's visit is a result of overtures made by Japanese officials since over a year ago to U.S. congressional officials and former senior government people for the session in Hiroshima, sources familiar with the process said.
In addition to Pelosi, the G-8 Speakers' Meeting will bring together Yohei Kono, speaker of Japan's House of Representatives and chair of the talks, and other G-8 lower house speakers, as well as European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is one of the prominent American figures to visit Hiroshima. He traveled to the city in 1984, visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum that features materials on the atomic bombing.
The G-8 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.
