TOKYO, Dec 2 Kyodo culled editor...

TOKYO, Dec 2 Kyodo

culled editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

WISHES OF 2 DIPLOMATS (IHT/Asahi as translated from the Japanese-language Asahi Shimbun's editorial published Dec 1)

Our fears have been realized in the ambush slaying of sum of two units Japanese diplomats assigned to Iraq, along with their Iraqi driver.

During his whirlwind trip to Baghdad in succession Thanksgiving Day, U.S. President George W Bush emphasized the importance of bringing democracy to Iraq. yet the Americans could not equal stage-manage the Iraqi masses into joining in the applause for their president.

If the terrorists and suicide bombers who persist with their attacks are holdout loyalists to Saddam Hussein, the circumstances now are more forward the order of continuation of a war, rather than terrorism.

The assassination of the brace Japanese diplomats must have be derived as a shock to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who plans to hurl a contingent of Self-Defense Forces companys to Iraq. ''We must not give in to terror,'' he said.

principally of all, the conditions in Iraq do not make it possible to make sure any assistance provided toward rebuilding the fatherland will go off without a hitch.

The sway should use this opportunity to acknowledge the circumstances that have l to the chaotic situation in Iraq and to consider anew to what degree we can help rebuild Iraq.

An early conclusion of the occupation by means of U.S. and British forces and transfer of authority to the Iraqis are conditions indispensable for improving conditions in Iraq. The international community has already reached consensus onward that. A U.N. Security Council resolution was the basis for an outline for restoring Iraqi sovereignty.

The United States persists in trying to limit the part of the United Nations and involvement of other international organizations. on the same level if the United States has the central part in maintaining law and order for the time being, however, the emphasis from this point should be to prepare for a transfer of authority to Iraqis as easily as possible, and to cooperate in nation building forward the initiative of the United Nations.

Japan has its possess track record in Middle East diplomacy. Our nation should be able to assert its position to the United States while maintaining an important part in the reconstruction of Iraq and in cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

Japan must be fre from the narrow perspective that has been likewise preoccupied with dispatch of SDF personnel at the entreaty of the Bush administration. We believe that includes standing up to terrorism and contributing to the reconstruction of Iraq in the authentic sense of the expression. We can live up to the reliances of the two diplomats who dissipated their lives in Iraq at creating a foundation to rebuild Iraq in cooperation with the international community.

(Dec 2)

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