Japan accuses Burma over journalist's death

Japan’s new foreign minister said today that his country holds Burma accountable for the death of a Japanese journalist found after the military opened fire on a crowd of pro-democracy protesters.

After a private meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura told reporters at the State Department that his ministry had raised the issue with officials at Burma’s Embassy in Tokyo.

Mr Komura said Japan holds Burma “strictly” accountable for the death of 50-year-old Kenji Nagai, which happened as tens of thousands defied the junta’s crackdown with a 10th straight day of demonstrations.

He said Ms Rice told him that the international community cannot let peaceful protesters get injured and killed.

Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka was scheduled to visit Burma this weekend to express Japan’s anger to the ruling military junta, said Tomohiko Taniguchi, a deputy press secretary travelling with Mr Komura.

He told The Associated Press that the “situation is intolerable” and Japan “cannot accept the brutality” of what happened to Mr Nagai, who was covering the protests for Japanese video news agency APF News.

Mr Komura was in Washington to attend a conference of major greenhouse gas emitters. He was appointed by new Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who officially took office yesterday.

The US-Japanese meeting came as security forces fired automatic weapons at protesters for a second day. The junta said nine people were killed and 11 wounded.

The protests were the stiffest challenge to Burma’s generals in two decades. The crisis began on August 19 with protests over a fuel price hike and has drawn increasing international pressure on the isolated regime.