Meeting between Mr. Shunichi Suzuki, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister (Parliamentary Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs) and Mr. Mourad Medelci, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Algeria

TOKYO, Japan, January 25, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- On January 23, Mr. Shunichi Suzuki, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister (Parliamentary Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs), and Mr. Minoru Kiuchi, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs who were visiting Algeria, had a meeting with Mr. Mourad Medelci, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Algeria, for about 30 minutes from 6:00 P.M. (10:00 A.M. local time), concerning the hostage of Japanese nationals in Algeria. The overview of the meeting is as follows.

Special Envoy Suzuki stated that the loss of many innocent lives in this incident filled him with extreme grief, and again stressed Japan's position that terrorism was absolutely unforgivable and that Japan resolutely condemned the despicable acts of terrorism this time. He also requested the continued full cooperation from the Algerian Government for the return to Japan of the Japanese nationals confirmed to be safe and the remains of the Japanese nationals who had perished aboard Japanese governmental aircraft, as well as for the confirmation of the well-being of the three Japanese nationals whose safety remained unknown.

In response, Minister Medelci said that he would offer his full cooperation so that Special Envoy Suzuki could achieve the objectives of his visit. He also offered the continuation of full cooperation for the confirmation of the well-being of the three Japanese nationals whose safety remained unknown.