Kyodo news summary -6-

TOKYO, Nov. 24 Kyodo

---------- Japan again calls on N. Korea to deal sincerely with abduction issue

TOKYO - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday reiterated his call on North Korea to respond ''with sincerity'' in resolving Pyongyang's past abductions of Japanese nationals, after the North denied earlier the same day having abducted a woman recently added to Japan's official list of victims.

''The Japanese government has identified Ms. Kyoko Matsumoto as an abduction victim with confidence based on investigation results so far,'' Abe told reporters. ''I believe North Korea must respond to the issue with sincerity.''

---------- Musharraf, Hu agree to strengthen bilateral cooperation

ISLAMABAD - Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao and Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf agreed Friday to further strengthen bilateral relations, including cooperation on defense and trade.

Hu and Musharraf met for nearly two and half hours in the presidential office in Islamabad and witnessed the signing of 18 agreements for cooperation.

---------- Election campaigning starts in Indonesia's once-restive Aceh

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Indonesia's once-restive Aceh Province kicked off its first democratic, regional election campaign period Friday ahead of next month's polls to pick the province's governor, regents and mayors.

The start of campaigning in the province, located on the northern tip of Sumatra Island, comes more than a year after a peace deal between the government and separatist rebels that ended almost three decades of violence.

---------- Taiwan's Chen survives 3rd recall attempt

TAIPEI - Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian on Friday survived yet another opposition-led recall bid, even though his approval rating has suffered in recent months given a string of corruption scandals involving his inner circle.

The proposal aimed at authorizing a nationwide referendum on whether to oust Chen before the end of his term was vetoed by the legislature as expected, with only 118 lawmakers supporting it, well short of the 146, or two-thirds majority, required.

---------- Experts express doubts about guilty verdict in Teigin Incident

TOKYO - Experts in pharmacology, psychology and other professional fields expressed doubts Friday about the guilty verdict against Sadamichi Hirasawa who was convicted in a 1948 mass-poisoning case known as the ''Teigin Incident.''

The experts attended a public meeting in Tokyo sponsored by Hirasawa's supporters who are now seeking a retrial of the Teigin Incident to prove his innocence. Hirasawa died in May 1987.

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