Japan:Japan will decide whether to suspend humanitarian aid to Burma after investigating the killing of a Japanese photographer during anti-government protests, the chief cabinet secretary said yesterday.
Japan's foreign ministry said on Thursday that photographer Kenji Nagai (50) was shot dead in Rangoon.
Pictures smuggled out of the country showed him taking photographs with a small camera even as he lay dying on a street.
"We will urge the Myanmar [Burma] government to find out the truth about his death," chief cabinet secretary Nobutaka Machimura told a news conference.
"At this stage we have not decided to suspend grant aid."
Mr Machimura, who is also the chief government spokesman, added that it was not clear whether the shooting was done on purpose or at close range, as some Japanese media had reported.
It was not immediately clear whether Nagai was working officially or not.
Burma rarely issues working visas to journalists and Rangoon's embassies around the world are known to keep blacklists of reporters who are routinely refused even tourist visas.
Quoting Japanese embassy doctors who examined the body on Thursday, Mr Machimura said the bullet had passed from Nagai's right chest through his heart and back.
He is the first foreign victim of the protests, which began as sporadic marches against fuel price rises but have swelled over the past month into mass demonstrations against 45 years of military rule.
"We are greatly concerned . . . and are urging Myanmar's government to take immediate steps to end this situation peacefully and through dialogue," Kyodo news agency quoted Japanese diplomat Kenichiro Sasae as saying.
Japan will only decide about imposing sanctions on Burma after watching responses from the international community, including the UN Security Council, Mr Machimura said.
Japan has in the past been criticised for not taking a hard line on Burma's military government.
Tokyo has withheld new aid to the country since democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi was detained in 2003, but still funds emergency requirements including health projects.
There are 615 Japanese nationals and 74 Japanese companies in Burma, Mr Machimura said.
- (Reuters)