Top �� What's up around the Prime Minister �� February, 2003

Prime Minister Meets with President of the Transitional Administration of Afghanistan February 21, 2003 Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met with President Hamid Karzai of the Transitional Administration of Afghanistan, who is visiting Japan, at the Iikura House of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. President Karzai has come to Japan to attend the Tokyo Conference on Consolidation of Peace in Afghanistan hosted by the Government of Japan on the first anniversary of the International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan (Tokyo Conference). During the meeting President Karzai expressed gratitude for the Japan's reconstruction assistance that has been extended since the January 2002 hosting of the International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan. Prime Minister Koizumi expressed Japan's policy of continuing to provide assistance for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, stating that Japan intends to play the leading role in the "Register for Peace" Project that is designed to disarm the combatants in Afghanistan and promote their reintegration into society.