The charge d'affaires at the Iraqi Embassy in Tokyo on Wednesday nudged Japan to lean on the U.S. to avert a war in his country.
"It's better for Japan to work in the direction of defusing the problem" than talk about helping to reconstruct Iraq after a military conflict ends, Qasim Shakir told the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. "Japan could talk to the U.S. about having a peaceful solution to this problem."
Shakir noted it is understandable that Japan is supporting the U.S. ultimatum on Iraq because of its own security concerns.