Obama not visiting Hiroshima, Nagasaki during Japan trip: official+

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 Kyodo -
U.S. President Barack Obama will not visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki during his
trip to Japan next month, a senior U.S. government official said Thursday.
The disclosure came as expectations rose in Japan that the U.S. president, who
has set out his vision of a world free of nuclear weapons, would visit the two
cities hit by U.S. atomic bombings in 1945.
Obama appears to be putting priority on fulfilling his itinerary centered on
the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Yokohama on Nov.
13-14.
On the news, Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba said Friday, ''It is extremely
regrettable since we have asked the president to attend the meeting of Nobel
Peace Prize laureates (in Hiroshima on Nov. 12-14).''
But Akiba expressed hope that Obama would visit in the future, saying the
president's latest decision does not mean he would never do so.
''I hope I could directly ask him to come here as soon as possible to see the
realities of the devastation caused by the atomic bombing,'' the mayor said in
a press conference.
Both the prefectural and municipal governments of Hiroshima sought the
attendance of Obama, the winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, at the upcoming
Nobel peace prize winners' conference.
Among others in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Akihiro Takahashi, 79, former curator
of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum who once wrote to Obama urging him to
visit Hiroshima, said ''I have been so let down, and now I would like to tell
Obama not to come.''
Hideo Tsuchiyama, 85, former president of Nagasaki University, said while he
understands it would be difficult for Obama to visit the atomic bombing sites
amid strong resistance from conservatives, ''I want him to reaffirm the ideals
expressed in his Prague speech and set rules to generate an irreversible trend
to abolish nuclear arms.''
He referred to Obama's speech in Prague last year, in which he articulated his
vision of a nuke-free world.
Some officials within U.S. government circles have viewed that such a visit
would benefit Obama's agenda of ridding the world of nuclear arms and prevent
nuclear proliferation.
But others believe the visit would entail political risk, as there is
widespread perception among the U.S. general public that it would be tantamount
to an apology.
Considering these factors, some officials view there would not be much to gain
for Obama spending time and effort visiting Hiroshima or Nagasaki at this
point, as he has already declared his intention to seek a world without nuclear
weapons.
The U.S. official also said the United States and Japan are not likely to issue
a joint declaration aimed at deepening the bilateral alliance at the time of
Obama's visit.
The two governments had considered issuing a fresh declaration to replace the
1996 joint security statement, as this year marks the 50th anniversary of the
signing of the revised mutual security pact between Japan and the United
States.
==Kyodo