Several dead in suicide attack on Libyan foreign ministry
TOKYO (AFP) – Japan is withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission and will resume commercial whaling next year, a government spokesman said Wednesday, in a move expected to spark international criticism.
The announcement had been widely expected and comes after Japan failed in a bid earlier this year to convince the IWC to allow it to resume commercial whaling.
"We have decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission in order to resume commercial
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Three suicide bombers attacked Libya’s foreign ministry in Tripoli on Tuesday, killing at least two other people as well as themselves, authorities said.
The three attackers began their assault with a car bomb, damaging vehicles and buildings, and then opened fire on the ministry, a security source said. Two managed to get inside and blow themselves up. The other was killed by ministry guards.
Heavy smoke rose from the building, which was surrounded by security forces, as people were rushed to hospital. The health ministry said that apart from the attackers, three people had been killed and at least 21 injured.
Interior Minister Fathi Ali Bashagha said however that apart from the attackers only two people were killed, adding that investigations were continuing into the identity of the assailants.
“Security chaos in Libya offers propitious conditions for IS (Islamic State) and other terrorist groups,” Bashagha said at a joint news conference in Tripoli with Foreign Minister Mohamed Taher Siala.
IS has been active in Libya in the turmoil since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The group took control of the coastal city of Sirte in 2015 but lost it late in 2016 to local forces backed by U.S. air strikes.
Siala called for a partial lifting of whaling in July next year," top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters.
"Commercial whaling to be resumed from July next year will be limited to Japan's territorial waters and exclusive economic zones. We will not hunt in the Antarctic waters or in the southern hemisphere," Suga added.
Tokyo has repeatedly threatened to pull out of the body, and has been regularly criticized for catching hundreds of whales a year for "scientific research" despite being a signatory to a moratorium the UN arms embargo on Libya to help authorities counter militant groups.
He said the foreign ministry had been targeted because “it is a symbol of sovereignty”.
“All important documents have been saved,” he said, adding that he deplored the death of one ministry employee in the attack. on hunting the animals.
Suga said Japan would officially inform the IWC of its decision by the end of the year, which will mean the withdrawal comes into effect by June 30.
Leaving the IWC means Japanese whalers will be able to resume hunting in Japanese coastal waters of minke and other whales currently protected by the IWC.
But Japan will not be able to continue the so-called scientific research hunts in the Antarctic that it has been exceptionally allowed as an IWC member
The foreign ministry earlier issued a statement saying: “The Libyan people are waging a war on terrorism on behalf of the world.”
The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) condemned the attack, stressing the need to “prevent terrorist groups from turning Libya into a haven or an arena for their crimes”. under the Antarctic Treaty.
The withdrawal means Japan joins Iceland and Norway in openly defying the IWC's ban on commercial whale hunting.
Japan has hunted whales for centuries, and their meat was a key source of protein in the immediate post-World War II years when the country was desperately poor.
But consumption has declined significantly in recent decades, with much of the population saying they rarely or never eat whale meat.