New Japanese leader Aso leaves for N.Y. for U.N. speech, bilateral talks

TOKYO, Sept. 25 Kyodo - New Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso left Tokyo for New York on Thursday afternoon to address the U.N. General Assembly and hold bilateral talks with his Australian and Iraqi counterparts.

Addressing the U.N. session will be the first major job for Aso, who became premier Wednesday night following his predecessor Yasuo Fukuda's abrupt resignation.
''I'm once again strongly feeling the heaviness of my responsibility,'' Aso
told reporters at the prime minister's office in Tokyo before leaving Japan.
On a whirlwind trip to New York, accompanied by new Foreign Minister Hirofumi
Nakasone, the 68-year-old premier will stay in the city for only half a day. He
needs to return home quickly to embark on a host of tasks as new prime minister
including preparations for a policy speech he is to deliver in parliament
Monday.
In a speech to the 63rd General Assembly on Thursday afternoon, Aso will
explain how Japan under his leadership will deal with regional and global
issues such as climate change, African development and terrorism.
It will be the first time since 2005 that a Japanese prime minister has
addressed the U.N. General Assembly.
Aso, a former foreign minister, will separately meet with U.N. Secretary
General Ban Ki Moon, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Australian Prime
Minister Kevin Rudd on the sidelines of the U.N. meeting, Chief Cabinet
Secretary Takeo Kawamura announced.
Aso is expected to explain to the Iraqi leader Japan's plan to withdraw the
Self-Defense Forces from its airlift mission in the war-torn country by the end
of the year. The pullout will mark the completion of Japan's mission for Iraqi
reconstruction that started in 2004.
Later Thursday, Aso will attend a working dinner hosted by the U.N. chief where
they are expected to discuss such issues as the food crisis and climate change,
Kawamura said.
No one-on-one meeting is planned between Aso and U.S. President George W. Bush
due to conflicting schedules of the leaders, Japanese government officials
said.
While in New York, Foreign Minister Nakasone will separately meet with U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi,
the officials said.
==Kyodo