National News Two Japanese envoys, seven Spanish intelligence officers killed in Iraq

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BAGHDAD (AP, Kyodo) - In twin bloody attacks on U.S. allies in Iraq, gunmen killed two Japanese diplomats Nov. 29, Japan's first fatalities in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion, and assailants ambushed a team of Spanish intelligence officers, killing seven of the eight.

The two diplomats, Katsuhiko Oku and Masamori Inoue, were ambushed around 5 p.m. as they stopped to buy food and drinks at a stand just south of the village of Mukayshifa on the road from Baghdad to Tikrit, where they were heading for a conference on reconstruction work. They were not being escorted by U.S. Army troops.

Japan reiterated its commitment Nov. 30 to helping with Iraqi reconstruction despite concerns about security after the killing of the diplomats.

In Tokyo, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters: "There will be no change in Japan's policy of providing humanitarian and reconstruction assistance in Iraq by sending people, regardless of whether they are Self-Defense Forces troops, civilians or government officials. Japan should not be intimidated by terrorism."

In the ambush of the Spaniards, one agent escaped the assault in Mahmudiyah, 30 km south of Baghdad. Journalists who arrived on the scene said a small crowd chanted praise for ousted President Saddam Hussein, and some even kicked the bodies.

The attack came a little more than two weeks after 19 Italians were killed in a suicide bombing that appeared to be aimed at undercutting the cohesion of the U.S.-led coalition, which includes more than 30 countries. The insurgents are also focusing on separating U.S. forces from Iraqi allies by attacking police and local officials.

イラクで日本外交官ら殺害

イラク北部ティクリート南方で11月29日、四輪駆動車で走行中だった在英日本大使館の奥克彦参事官と在イラク日本大使館の井ノ上正盛3等書記官が銃撃を受け、2人とも死亡した。また同日、バグダッド南方ではスペイン情報機関員が待ち伏せ攻撃を受け、7人が死亡した。

Shukan ST: Dec. 12, 2003

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