Palestinian leader arrives in Japan, visits A-bomb museum in Hiroshima+

HIROSHIMA, Feb. 7 Kyodo -
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Japan on Sunday for a
four-day visit as part of his Asian tour and visited Hiroshima for the first
time.
After offering flowers at the cenotaph for the victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic
bombing of the city, Abbas went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and
wrote in a visitors' book that his heart bleeds for the calamities of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, the other Japanese city to suffer an atomic bombing.
The Palestinian leader told reporters that the world should eliminate nuclear
weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. He also said the Palestinians
have been tormented by war and need support from other countries to achieve
peace.
Abbas, who last visited Japan in May 2005, is scheduled to hold talks with
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Monday and with Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada
on Tuesday before heading for South Korea on Wednesday.
During the talks, the Japanese side is expected to formally notify the
Palestinian leader of its intention to provide $20 million in aid and build a
solar power plant in the West Bank town of Jericho.
Tokyo is also likely to commit to providing support for the resumption of the
Middle East peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians, which
remains in a stalemate.
==Kyodo