Abbas begins Japan trip with visit to A-bomb museum

HIROSHIMA (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.

On the first day of his four-day visit to Japan, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas listens to an explanation of an exhibit at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. KYODO PHOTO

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.