The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, today offered his sympathy to the families of two Japanese journalists killed in Iraq.
Speaking as President of the European Union Council of Ministers Mr Cowen said: "I am shocked and horrified at reports that two Japanese journalists have been murdered in Iraq".
"Violence offers us no solution and cannot benefit the people of Iraq. The only way forward in that country is to see the earliest possible restoration of sovereignty to a democratically elected government."
The two journalists are believed to have been killed south of Baghdad last Thursday.
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The deaths take to four the number of Japanese citizens killed in Iraq since last year's US-led invasion.