Abe assassination stuns world
KUALA LUMPUR (AP) – Friday’s shocking assassination of Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe in one of the world’s safest country stunned the world and drew condemnation, with the United States calling it “shocking” and “profoundly disturbing” and Spain slamming the “cowardly attack.”
Abe, 67, was shot from behind in Nara in western Japan while giving a campaign speech. He was airlifted to a hospital, but was not breathing and his heart had stopped. He was pronounced dead later at the hospital.
Abe was Japan’s longest-serving leader before stepping down in 2020 for health reasons.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who hastily returned to Tokyo from campaign events around the country, called the shooting “dastardly and barbaric.”
French President Emmanuel Macron, in a tribute to Abe, said Japan has lost a great leader.
“Japan has lost a great prime minister, who dedicated his life to his country and worked to ensure order in the world,” Macron said on Twitter.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was “stunned and deeply saddened.”
“We stand closely by Japan’s side even in these difficult hours,” Scholz tweeted, expressing his deepest sympathy to Abe’s family.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, on the other hand, said he was shocked by “this terrible attack,” which hits Japan and free democratic debate.
“Abe was a great protagonist of Japanese and international political life in recent decades, thanks to his innovative spirit and his reforming vision. Italy sends its condolences to his family, to the government and to the entire Japanese people.”
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called the shooting “an unforgivable act of crime.”
“I send my condolences to the beareaved families and the Japanese people who have lost the longest-serving prime minister and respected politician in Japan’s constitutional history,” Yoon said.