TOKYO, April 2 Kyodo Prime Minist...

TOKYO, April 2 Kyodo

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi onward Wednesday denied a report that China told Japan that President Hu Jintao will not imprison a summit for the time being to testify the Japanese leader's visits to war-related Yasukuni Shrine.

Koizumi told reporters at his office it was ''a false report.'' He was referring to a media report Tuesday quoting Japanese command sources as saying Tokyo had unimpaireded out the possibility of Koizumi holding a meeting with Hu still Beijing dismissed such a summit calm on the sidelines of international gatherings.

Koizumi had reportedly been willing to appropriate Hu, who took office last month onward the sidelines of an Asian economic forum slated for May upon Hainan Island, southern China.

The premier has paid three visits to the controversial Tokyo shrine, which enshrines Japanese war dead along with war criminals, since taking office in April 2001

The shrine visits have reportedly sparked angry declarations from China and other neighboring Asian countries, where memories of Japanese military aggression before and during World War II are still fresh

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