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Hatoyama, Obama to release joint nuclear disarmament statement

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and U.S. President Barack Obama will reiterate their intent to pursue a world without nuclear weapons following their summit meeting Friday, government officials said.

The two leaders will agree to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance over the long term, while postponing a final decision on the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture, a sticking issue between the two countries.

Obama arrived in Tokyo Friday afternoon on the first leg of his Asia tour. It is the first time for Obama to visit Japan as president of the United States.

Following the summit, Hatoyama and Obama will issue a joint declaration on a Japan-U.S. joint initiative toward a world without nuclear weapons. The statement will call for bilateral cooperation in nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation, peaceful use of atomic energy and nuclear security.

Specifically, it will state that the two countries will urge all nuclear powers to reduce their nuclear stockpiles in a transparent manner, and call for cooperation in making a Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty review conference next year a success and ensuring early enactment of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

The declaration will also confirm that the two countries will urge North Korea to return to the six-party talks with the aim of ridding the country of nuclear arms and demand that Iran peacefully solve problems involving its nuclear weapons development.

It will be the first time for Japan and the United States to work out a joint statement on nuclear disarmament, according to a senior Foreign Ministry official.

Tokyo and Washington can now cooperate in the fields of nuclear disarmament and efforts to prevent global warming following policy change in the United States after Obama took office.

During the summit talks, Prime Minister Hatoyama will explain his proposal to establish an East Asia Community and Japan's plan to extend 5 billion dollars (approximately 450 billion yen) in assistance for reconstruction of Afghanistan over the next five years.

(Mainichi Japan) November 13, 2009

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