Ad Hoc Press Conference by the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Opening Statement by Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hagiuda

DEPUTY CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY HAGIUDA: Today, Prime Minister Abe and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh held a telephone talk for approximately 20 minutes from 1:35 PM to 1:55 PM. At the beginning, the Prime Minister stated that regarding the incident in which an armed group barricaded itself in a restaurant in Dhaka, Japan is calling for the incident to be handled by giving top priority to the lives of the Japanese nationals who may have been caught up in the incident. The Prime Minister requested that as the authorities entered the building a short time ago, Bangladesh provide information about the facts on the ground, including the safety of the Japanese nationals. The Prime Minister said Japan would dispatch today State Minister for Foreign Affairs Kihara and the Counter Terrorism Unit - Japan to respond to the incident, and requested the support of Bangladesh. He noted that in any event, Japan strongly condemns this kind of atrocious act, which could never be justified for any reason. He said in this time of difficulty, Japan would like to have solidarity with Bangladesh. The Prime Minister stated that Japan would continue to work with the international community, and would provide maximum support for the response of the Government of Bangladesh.

Prime Minister Hasina stated as follows regarding this matter. “The operation was completed. We are yet to confirm the overall picture regarding the situation of the victims. However, 13 people have been rescued: three of them are foreign nationals, including one Japanese national. This one Japanese national is being treated at a hospital together with the other injured people. We made our utmost effort, giving top priority to saving lives, and it is regrettable that nevertheless fatalities have occurred. We will continue to take every possible step to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals living in Bangladesh and diplomatic facilities.”

In response, Prime Minister Abe stated that it was extremely regrettable that fatalities have occurred. Considering that several other Japanese nationals could have also been in the restaurant, Japan requests Bangladesh to continue its efforts to confirm their safety. Regarding the Japanese victims, the Prime Minister requested the utmost support of Bangladesh particularly for medical treatment and repatriation. The Prime Minister requested that as a large number of Japanese nationals reside in Bangladesh, Bangladesh continue to take every possible measure to ensure the safety of the Japanese nationals. With that, the telephone talk was concluded.

Immediately after the telephone talk, the Japanese Embassy in Bangladesh informed us that a short while ago, its personnel saw in person the injured Japanese national at a hospital. They talked to him directly. While he has sustained injuries, they are not life threatening. According to what he has said, eight work colleagues were eating together when the incident occurred. This individual who was rescued stated that after the incident, all of them took separate actions to evacuate, and therefore, he does not know and cannot confirm the safety of the remaining seven Japanese nationals.

Q&As

(Abridged)