TL Foreign Minister attended the state funeral of the late Japan Former PM Shinzo Abe

Dili, 3 october 2022 (TATOLI)-Timor-Leste’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Adaljiza Magno, and delegation attended the state funeral of the late former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Japan on September 27.

Minister Magno was entrusted by the Government of Timor-Leste to attend the State funeral following the invitation from the Government of Japan.

Speaking in a video posted by her office, Minister Magno said, the state funeral is attended by many country leaders including Timor-Leste adding that Timor-Leste’s attending the ceremony because Japan is a great and important partner of Timor-Leste.

“Timor-Leste participates in the State Funeral because we consider Japan an important development partner. We know that in 2000 the time we prepare for the transition, and seek to find the budget for the process of state construction, Japan offered Tokyo as the first place to organize donor meetings to collect the budget for the Timor-Leste development, particularly after the UN time. So we considered it is important to participate in the State funeral ceremony and it is also important for me to greet the current Prime Minister of Japan, and the Wife of late former PM Shinzo Abe,” said Magno.

Shinzo Abe, 67, dies after being shot while giving a speech during a political campaign two days ahead of a national election.

He was Japan’s longest-serving leader before stepping down for health reasons in 2020.

Kyodo News reported that Japan’s longest-serving leader was shot by a 41-year-old man from behind at around 11:30 a.m. when he was speaking in front of Kintetsu Railway’s Yamato-Saidaiji Station.

Kyodo News said Abe was rushed to the Nara Medical University Hospital and pronounced dead at 5:03 pm.

Shinzo Abe was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and the President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2006-2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. After many years of leading the country, Abe is known as the longest-serving Prime Minister in Japanese history.

Born into a prominent political family, Abe was elected to the House of Representatives in the 1993 election and was appointed by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi as the Chief Cabinet Secretary in September 2005.

Shinzo Abe was also confirmed as Japan’s youngest Post-war prime minister and the first to have been born after World War II. He resigned as prime minister after one year in office, because of medical complications from ulcerative colitis.

Journalist: Camilo de Sousa

Editor: Nelia Borges