Students from Hyogo Prefectural Itami High School, the alma mater of Katsuhiko Oku, a diplomat killed in Iraq in 2003, and Baruch College Campus High School in New York met Thursday at the Japanese Consulate General in the Big Apple to begin an exchange program.

"We're proud of him," Hisako Akita, principal of the Itami school, said to students from both institutions. "This exchange program will be one of the biggest opportunities for my students to (realize) Mr. Oku's wish for world peace."

The 45-year-old diplomat, killed in an ambush in northern Iraq while working for the Coalition Provisional Authority, graduated from the high school in 1976 and continues to inspire students there.