Japan to attempt Resolving the Syrian Problem

Japan will pay close attention to the situation in Syria after its government accepted the six-point plan put forward by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday.

The UN announced earlier this week that the Syrian government had accepted Annan’s proposal on the Syria crisis, which demands for the immediate cessation of violence and secure humanitarian access.

“Amid the ongoing oppression in Syria that has been accompanied by more than 9,000 fatalities since March 2011, Japan views this declaration of acceptance by the Syrian government as an initial important step toward ending the bloodshed,” Foreign Ministry Press Secretary Yutaka Yokoi said in a statement. “A prompt and substantive implementation of the special envoy’s proposal is vital, and Japan will pay close attention to the situation from here on, along with repeating its calls upon the Syrian government to put an immediate end to the violence unconditionally and to swiftly and completely comply with the content of the proposal and the Arab League’s action plan and statement,” Yokoi said.

Japan will continue to make its utmost diplomatic effort, in coordination with the international community, toward resolving the Syria problem, he added, according to KUNA.

Earlier this month, the former UN secretary general and special envoy on the Syrian crisis met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus to end violence in the country