Kyodo news summary

0 Comments | Asian Political News, Nov 1, 2004

TOKYO, Oct. 29 Kyodo

---------- Arafat to undergo medical treatment in Paris

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Ailing Palestinian President Yasser Arafat will be flown to a Paris hospital Friday to undergo medical treatment for a blood disease, a source in the Palestinian autonomous government said.

Arafat, 75, will be airlifted from Ramallah to Amman in a Jordanian military helicopter and from the Jordanian capital to Paris in a chartered plane dispatched by the French government, the source said.

---------- Kidnappers release statements, no mention of hostage

CAIRO - The Islamic militant group believed to have taken a Japanese man hostage earlier this week in Iraq released statements Thursday on the Internet for the first time after the kidnapping, but made no mention of him.

The group led by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who is believed to be linked to the al-Qaida international terrorist organization, posted three statements almost simultaneously on the same website that it used to release the picture of Shosei Koda, 24, a Japanese traveler taken hostage in Iraq.

---------- Japan's frustrating search for hostage in Iraq enters 3rd day

TOKYO - The frustrating attempt by the Japanese government to secure the release of a Japanese traveler kidnapped by militants in Iraq entered the third day Friday, without any contact made with the captors, or even information on the whereabouts of the hostage.

The government continued to push for information, both in Tokyo and Amman, after 48 hours passed since the militants posted a video on a website early Wednesday. In it, they threatened to behead Shosei Koda, 24, unless Japan withdraws Self-Defense Forces troops from Iraq ''within 48 hours.''

---------- Powell, China's Gen. Liang differ on arms sales to Taiwan

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell reiterated Washington's policy of continuing to sell defensive arms to Taiwan in a meeting with China's top military officer Gen. Liang Guanglie on Thursday, the State Department said.

Powell ''noted that our position remains unchanged and is based on a one-China policy, commitments to the three joint communiques and upholding our responsibilities under the Taiwan Relations Act,'' State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.

---------- Billionaire financier Soros raps Bush, seeks Kerry victory

WASHINGTON - Billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros on Thursday blasted President George W. Bush's foreign policies, particularly on the war in Iraq, and appealed for support for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry.

Ending a 12-city speaking tour that sent him across the country criticizing the Bush administration before next Tuesday's presidential election, the chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC gave his last speech at the National Press Club in Washington.

---------- Coronation under way for Cambodia's new king

PHNOM PENH - The coronation for Cambodia's new king, Prince Norodom Sihamoni, began Friday inside the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.

Television stations began live broadcasts of the event throughout the nation.

---------- Gov't to ban imports of Japanese CDs produced abroad for 4 years

TOKYO - The government adopted a revised enforcement order of the copyright law Friday to ban imports of lower-priced compact disks of Japanese music produced in other Asian nations for four years, government officials said.

The revised copyright law, enacted in June, will go into effect Jan. 1, 2005.

---------- 5 injured in Islamabad hotel blast, wiring blamed

ISLAMABAD - At least five people were injured in an explosion Thursday night at Marriot Hotel in Islamabad on that was caused by a short circuit, hotel officials said.

Federal Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao visited the hotel and told reporters the explosion was ''apparently caused by a short circuit,'' denying the possibility of a terrorist attack.

---------- Princess Hisako to visit Thailand in Nov.

TOKYO - Princess Hisako, widow of Prince Takamado, will visit Thailand for nine days from Nov. 14 to attend an environmental conference, government officials said Friday.

The 51-year-old princess plans to attend the World Conservation Congress of the World Conservation Union in Bangkok in her capacity of honorary chairwoman of the BirdLife International, an international union of bird conservation groups, the Imperial Household Agency said.

---------- Man sentenced to 6 years for fatally abusing girlfriend's daughter

OKAYAMA, Japan - The Okayama District Court sentenced a 32-year-old man to six years in prison Friday for fatally abusing the 3-year-old daughter of his girlfriend.

Naoto Nishihara kicked Satsuki Torimi in the head and slamming her against the wall in the bathroom of their apartment in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, on Feb. 6, resulting in her death on Feb. 23 from subdural hematoma, the ruling said.