Don't fret sex-slave row: Schieffer

The controversy over Japan's wartime sex slavery will not significantly affect Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Washington next week, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer said Wednesday.

"I don't think it's going to have a great impact on it," Schieffer told reporters after meeting Abe over preparations for the trip. "Hopefully the president and the prime minister will be able to talk about issues of the future more than the past."

Abe's first visit to the United States as prime minister next week comes at a time when the U.S. Congress is debating a resolution seeking an apology from Tokyo for forcing women into sexual servitude in the 1930s and 1940s.

Abe fueled controversy last month when he denied the Japanese military was involved in sending the women to the frontline brothels.

Schieffer said President George W. Bush looks forward to building a friendship with Abe. Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, was known for his close friendship with Bush.

Bush and his wife, Laura, "want to demonstrate to the Abes how much they value the Japanese friendship and relationship and the alliance," Schieffer said.