Tokyo, Nov 30: Two Japanese diplomats were killed in an apparent ambush in northern Iraq, Japan's Foreign Minister said, a development certain to complicate Tokyo's decision on when to send troops to help rebuild the country. News of the first Japanese deaths in Iraq since the US-led war in Iraq began in march comes as Japan, one of Washington's closest allies in Asia, ponders when to send the non-combat troops and domestic voters grow increasingly nervous about the dangers involved.
Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi told a news conference that two diplomats, 45-year-old Katsuhiko Oku and Masamori Inoue, 30, were killed in the attack, which officials said occurred near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, 175 km north of Baghdad.
A non-Japanese driver was also injured in the attack, which took place around 5 pm Iraq time (1930 hrs IST), officials said.
The Tokyo report followed news that seven spanish Intelligence agents were killed in a guerrilla roadside attack about 45 km south of Baghdad.
Bureau Report