U.S. Envoy Roos to Attend Hiroshima Peace Ceremony

Tokyo, Aug. 5 (Jiji Press)--U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos will attend this year's peace memorial ceremony in Hiroshima on Tuesday, the U.S. embassy in Tokyo has announced. "The United States looks forward to continuing to work with Japan to advance President (Barack) Obama's goal of realizing a world without nuclear weapons," the embassy said in a statement. Roos' participation in the event, the third for him, is also apparently intended to show Washington's sympathy to Japan, the world's only country attacked with nuclear arms and a key U.S. ally, and to further strengthen the bilateral alliance, informed sources said. The annual ceremony is for mourning the victims of the U.S. atomic bombing of the western Japan city on Aug. 6, 1945, in the closing days of World War II and for renewing Hiroshima's unwavering determination to help the world achieve eternal peace. Roos first joined the Hiroshima peace ceremony in 2010, becoming the first U.S. government representative ever to do so. It will be the last time for Roos to attend the event because Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, is seen taking up the Tokyo post as his successor in autumn this year. END