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Nobel Peace laureates to hold summit in Hiroshima in November

by Sakiko Masuda, Staff Writer

On May 27, it was learned that an international conference, "The World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates," at which previous Nobel Peace Prize laureates gather, will be held in Hiroshima in mid-November. In the year that marks the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing, about 100 people, including Nobel Peace Prize laureates and others, will discuss the elimination of nuclear weapons in the A-bombed city of Hiroshima. Hiroshima Prefecture and the City of Hiroshima will set up a council in the near future that will support the summit and aim to generate momentum for the conference.

The World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates has been held by Nobel Peace Prize laureates nearly every year since 1999 in such places as Rome, Paris, and Berlin. This year's summit will be the 11th one, and held in Asia for the first time.

The summit's secretariat in Rome reportedly approached the City of Hiroshima this spring about holding the conference in Hiroshima, and Hiroshima Prefecture and the City of Hiroshima decided to host the summit. The details, including the names of the participants, will be finalized in the future.

The summit is expected to be on the agenda at the meeting held on May 28 between Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki and Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba. It is reported that supplementary budget bills for the related expenses will be presented at the prefectural assembly and the city assembly in June.

At the previous world summits, Nobel Peace Prize laureates have discussed such themes as human rights and peace, and compiled proposals. In Hiroshima, a road map toward nuclear abolition will be discussed.

Meanwhile, the Economic Leaders' Meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) will be held in the city of Yokohama on November 13 and 14, which U.S. President Barack Obama, who received the Nobel Peace Prize last year, is scheduled to attend. There are hopes that Mr. Obama, as the first sitting U.S. president, will visit the A-bombed city of Hiroshima as well.

Mayor Akiba was once invited by the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates held in Rome in 2006, and delivered a speech on his efforts to abolish nuclear weapons by 2020, among other things.

(Originally published on May 28, 2010)

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