Hiroshima marks 57th anniversary of atomic-bombing

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>]

Hiroshima marks 57th anniversary of atomic-bombing



HIROSHIMA, Aug. 6 (Kyodo) - The city of Hiroshima on Tuesday 

commemorated the 57th anniversary of its atomic bombing in 1945 by 

reiterating its pledge to continue to promote peace and expressing 

concern at the threat of nuclear war.



Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba delivered an annual peace declaration 

in which he vowed to do his utmost ''to create a 'century of peace 

and humanity'.''



At the same time, however, Akiba said, ''The probabilities that 

nuclear weapons will be used and the danger of nuclear war are 

increasing.''



It was the first annual memorial for A-bomb victims since the Sept. 

11 terrorist attacks on the United States and subsequent U.S.-led 

military campaign in Afghanistan.



In the declaration, Akiba urged U.S. President George W. Bush to 

visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki and ''confirm with his own eyes what 

nuclear weapons hold in store for us all.''



Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi attended the ceremony in the Peace 

Memorial Park in Naka Ward, his second attendance at the annual 

event.



As the only country to have been attacked by nuclear bombs, Japan has 

maintained the pacifist Constitution under the resolution that the 

tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki not be repeated, Koizumi said.



The premier renewed his pledge to maintain Japan's three avowed 

principles of not producing, not possessing and not allowing nuclear 

arms on its soil, adding ''This position will not change.''



''The government will continue efforts to ask other countries to join 

the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty for its early enforcement,'' he 

said.



Other participants included Health, Labor and Welfare Minister 

Chikara Sakaguchi, whose ministry deals with policies for the 

rehabilitation of A-bomb survivors, House of Councillors President 

Hiroyuki Kurata, Hiroshima Gov. Yuzan Fujita, Nagasaki Mayor Itcho 

Ito and United Nations University Vice Rector Ramesh Thakur.



The 50-minute ceremony started at 8 a.m. with Akiba and two 

representatives of A-bomb victims' family put two books under an arch-

shaped cenotaph in the park which list names of 4,977 people newly 

recognized as A-bomb victims by the city government since Aug. 6 last 

year.



Koizumi, Akiba, other guests and representatives of A-bomb survivors 

and citizens offered flowers in front of the cenotaph.



As the peace bell resounded through the park, some 45,000 

participants observed a minute's silence for the bomb victims from 

8:15 a.m., the time when the U.S. B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped the 

first nuclear weapon on the western Japan city 57 years ago.



Akiba then read a peace declaration highlighting the danger of 

nuclear weapons and urged the government to reject nuclear arms 

and renounce war, as well as assist all atomic-bomb victims, 

especially survivors living overseas.



Fujita and Thakur also delivered speeches at the ceremony.



In a speech read out by Thakur, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan 

said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks ''gave new meaning and new 

urgency to the worldwide challenge of disarmament -- particularly 

when it comes to weapons of mass destruction.''



''We, the peoples of the world...must do all we can to run back the 

tide of nuclear proliferation and ensure that the terrible experience 

of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is never repeated,'' Annan said.



The number of victims from the atomic bombing in the city totaled 

226,870 as of Monday. The blast and its aftereffects killed an 

estimated 140,000 people by the end of 1945.





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Sandy Perle				Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100  

Director, Technical			Extension 2306 			

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service	Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                

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