Koizumi speech cut short

Koizumi speech cut short

Coming from a country where every second of time is respected,
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi probably did not mind
having to shorten the length of his speech to the Asian-African
Summit heads of state and government on Friday.

The Deputy Director General of the Asian and Oceania Affairs
Bureau at the Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sinichi
Nishimaya, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday that the prime
minister's original speech had been shortened after the summit
organizers said that due to time constraints, each head of state
or government would be given no longer than seven minutes to
speak.

Nishimaya expressed discontent, however, with what he called
the discriminatory implementation of the ruling. Certain leaders,
he said, had been allowed to exceed their allotted times.-- JP