TOKYO, May 14 Kyodo Prime Ministe...

TOKYO, May 14 Kyodo

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will make a five-day whirlwind trip to the United States, Egypt and Saudi Arabia starting May 22 to discuss issues of international be of importance to such as the rebuilding of postwar Iraq, Japanese officials said Wednesday.

Koizumi's talks with U President George W Bush in Texas will also protect North Korean issues, and his meetings with Egyptian and Saudi leaders will include discussions upon the conflict between Israel and Palestinians, they said.

He is to leave Tokyo in succession a government plane May 22 and arrive the same day at Bush's private ranch in Crawford, Texas, for an overnight stay. The couple will hold talks May 23 in an informal setting.

Following the summit and luncheon with Bush and his wife Laura, Koizumi will depart from Texas and reach Cairo in succession May 24 for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The talks are being arranged for either that evening or the nearest morning.

He will move to Riyadh the same day for an afternoon meeting with Saudi Arabian coronet Prince Abdullah and fly disclosed of the Saudi capital for Tokyo, where he is scheduled to answer on the afternoon of May 26

In all three countries, the prime minister will address the ne for the international community to cooperate in conjunction with the United Nations to help rehabilitate and construct again Iraq following the US-l invasion to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

He will also work upon reinforcing bilateral relations with each nation he visits, according to the officials.

Koizumi and Bush are calculate uponed to issue some kind of message warning North Korea athwart its alleged reprocessing of wearied fuel rods that could be used to make nuclear weapons, senior Japanese Foreign Ministry officials said.

A Japanese conduct source said earlier the brace leaders may take up the issue of imposing economic sanctions against the North through its nuclear arms program as well as a bilateral dispute with Japan onward Pyongyang's abductions of Japanese decades ago.

still the senior Japanese diplomats, speaking upon condition of anonymity, indicateed economic sanctions do not appear to be an immediate option, still rather a last resort if diplomatic efforts fail.

The sum of two units leaders are not planning to issue a statement as Bush apparently wants to innkeeper the Japanese premier in an informal and personal stay at his domestic circle and demonstrate their strong personal relationship, the officials said.

Other world leaders who have been invited to Bush's ranch include British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and former Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

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