Japan PM apologises for WWII Dutch prisoners

AMSTERDAM - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has apologised for the suffering and pain Japan's military inflicted on thousands of Dutch prisoners during World War Two.

"Humbly accepting the fact that Japan inflicted grave damage and pain on people of many countries including the Netherlands during World War Two, we would like to deeply reflect on this and offer heartfelt apology," Koizumi told Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, according to a Japanese official.

Koizumi is in Amsterdam on the last leg of his whirlwind six-day trip that took him to India, Pakistan and Luxembourg.

Japan's wartime actions have continued to mar its international relations despite repeated apologies, which countries such as South Korea and China say have not been backed up by action.

At an Asia-Africa summit in Jakarta last month, Koizumi made an unusually rare public apology for Japan's wartime atrocities.

"In the past, Japan, through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations, " Koizumi said.

"Japan squarely faces these facts of history in a spirit of humility," he said, adding Japan always had in mind "feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology. "

Koizumi offered the apology at a time when relations between Japan and China were at their worst in decades following three weekends of sometimes-violent anti-Japanese demonstrations throughout China last month.

When Japanese Emperor Akihito visited the Netherlands in May 2000, he expressed his "deep sorrow" over Dutch POWs.

An estimated 14,000 Dutch soldiers and civilians were held by the Imperial Japanese Army in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, during World War Two.

Tens of thousands of British, Americans, New Zealanders and Australians were also held by the Imperial Japanese Army, and many died in captivity after suffering cruel treatment in concentration camps.

In 1998, then-Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto told visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Tokyo that his entire cabinet had agreed to issue "an expression of deep remorse and heartfelt apology to the people who suffered in World War Two".

Many former prisoners have filed lawsuits in Japan demanding an apology and compensation from the government for mistreatment such as forced labour and torture they said they suffered.

But Japan has held that it is not liable for compensation because all World War Two claims were settled in 1951 under the San Francisco peace agreements.

Asked whether Japan should compensate the former Dutch prisoners of war, Koizumi said: "Officially, the issue on whether Japan should compensate has already been settled through the San Francisco peace treaty and a bilateral treaty."

"But because the issue involves the feelings of the people of the Netherlands, we should resolve this by having forward-looking talks and deepening the bilateral friendship."

In Amsterdam on Monday, Koizumi also expressed his gratitude to the Netherlands for having ensured security for 550 Japanese troops stationed in the southern Iraqi city of Samawa on a non-combat mission to help rebuild war-torn Iraq.

The Netherlands completed the withdrawal of its troops from Iraq in March.

Koizumi leaves for Tokyo later on Monday, wrapping up his four-nation tour.

- REUTERS