HIROSHIMA, Aug. 3 Kyodo, The statue of atomic bomb victim Sadako Sasaki in the Seattle Peace Park will be unveiled anew Friday, the 59th anniversary of the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima, after being restored following an attack by vandals last year.

The statue of Sadako, who died of leukemia in 1955 at the age of 12 after being exposed to radiation from the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima when she was 2, was vandalized last December and lost its right arm. People around the world made donations for its repair.

Sadako's brother, Masahiro Sasaki, 63, who has been invited to attend the unveiling ceremony, said, ''I am thankful for the kindness of the people around the world. I would like to convey the spirit of Sadako, who always cared for others.''

Peace activist Michiko Pumpian, 49, who lives in Seattle and initiated the donation drive for the repairs, said the renovation involved many people and helped spread the call for peace.

Pumpian said a total of $10,000 and some 50,000 paper cranes were received from people in the United States, Japan, Britain and other places in just three months after she began calling for donations through the Internet and by e-mail in February.

The statue is a life-size bronze of Sadako and about 150 centimeters tall. Sadako made more than 1,000 paper cranes when she was hospitalized, in the hope that the gods would grant her a wish to get well.

A similar monument was built at the Hiroshima Peace Park in 1958 in memory of Sadako and paper cranes have since been sent from all over the world to the monument as a symbol of peace.

The Seattle Peace Park was built by the late Floyd Schmoe and was dedicated in 1990 on the 45th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. Schmoe led a volunteer group to Hiroshima in 1948 and built houses for survivors of the bombing. He received the Hiroshima Peace Prize and was made an honorary citizen of Japan in 1988.

2004-08-03 13:14:18JST