European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 21, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 a the stars and stripes sunday july 21, 1991 . To blame for War Tojo wrote we Tokyo apr Japan a world War ii prime minister defiant As he waited in prison for his trial on War crimes charges wrote thana pan a attack on Pearl Harbor was a Surprise to americans Only because they had misunderstood a note that Japan meant to be a declaration of War. What a More the United states and its allies had Only themselves to blame for the War because they pushed Japan to the Wall with economic sanctions Gen. Hideki Tojo wrote while incarcerated in Sulamo prison. Tojo a prison writings dating Back almost 45 years Are being published for the first time in the current Issue of the monthly Magazine Hose i. The prime minister virtual dictator of Japan during the War was convicted by the allies of War crimes and executed by hanging in 1948. The excerpts show a Man smarting from the charge that Japan had started the War in violation of International Law without following the proper protocol. The prime minister wrote that Japan had followed International Law by declaring War before dropping the first bomb on the . Military base in Hawaii. He said the United states had misinterpreted a statement that Japan meant to be a War declaration. But he made no apologies for doing what he believed was in his nations interests. A the economic pressure imposed by the United states the British government and others was an inhuman act a he wrote. A for Japan doing nothing would have meant the destruction of the nation. We had to stand up and defend  a a the events surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor have been a source of historical debate for five decades and continue to inspire mistrust and anger on both sides of the Pacific despite the Strong ties that have developed Between Japan and the United states. According to the official . Account japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor on dec. 7, 1941, before formally serving the . Government with a declaration of War. President Franklin d. Roosevelt called it a a Date which will live in infamy in declaring War on Japan. In his prison writings Tojo said that a note handed to . Secretary of state Cordell Hull in Washington on the Day of the attack was meant As a declaration of War. The note said the United states had threatened a for Japan doing nothing would have meant the destruction of the nation. We had to stand up and. Defend ourselves a Hideki Tojo pants welfare by imposing economic sanctions helping anti japanese forces in China and cooperating with Britain to Cut off Japan a Supply of raw materials from French Indochina. A the foreign ministry had studied whether the note would be suitable or not under International Law. I oppose the allies claims that this note is not regarded As a declaration of the War under the Hague convention a Tojo wrote. The Hague convention is a series of International treaties reached Between 1899 and 1907 governing the rules of War. . Historians have said the note in question was considered by Washington to be More of in ultimatum Viet envoy discounts likelihood of service members held captive Bangkok Thailand apr a vietnamese Diplomat said Friday its unlikely any . Service members captured during the Vietnam War Are still held but he promised his government would help investigate All reports of american mias. Nguyen Trung Vietnam a ambassador to Thailand said it is not Vietnam a policy to hold americans As prisoners of War. The vietnamese government has repeatedly denied that there Are . Service members still alive in the Southeast asian nation. The dispute Over servicemen missing in action was renewed last week after the release of a Grainy photograph showing three men wearing strange clothes and holding a sign with numbers that could signify the Date May 25, 1990. The pow-m1a group that released the picture in Washington said it shows three american fliers lost during the War. The source of the photo has not been disclosed. The families of air Force col. John Leighton Robertson air Force maj. Albro Lynn Lundy or. And Navy it. Larry James Stevens also insist they arc the men in the photograph. The Pentagon has said the three were declared killed or missing in action while flying missions in Southeast Asia in the late 1960s, although their bodies were never recovered. It also said it May never be Able to determine the photographs authenticity. He said the vietnamese government sympathizes with the United states on this Issue because a we have the same problem  a even now in Vietnam we still have thousands of missing people and their families and relatives ask us every Day to find them a he said. A and we fully understand that american families Are facing the same problem. A a if we receive any new information we Are ready to investigate it by ourselves or jointly with the . Side a the ambassador said. He said joint teams have searched every vietnamese province looking for the remains of service members but much of the information received in the past has been inaccurate. Vietnam and the United states do not have diplomatic ties. They agreed in april to open an office to work on determining the fates of the 1,600 americans still listed As missing in action in the Vietnam War. Gulf declared Safe for shipping Manama Bahrain apr a multinational naval task Force has declared the persian Gulf a Waters Safe for shipping after destroying More than 1,200 mines coalition commanders said Friday. The min sweeping Armada has been in the Gulf since april 4 removing mines Iraq dumped off the iraqi and kuwaiti shores to protect against Allied attack. Capt. Dieter Lyder commander of the German unit said the nine nation Force was 95 percent successful. A a we be reached the clearance aimed which is to guarantee safety for navigation a he told a news conference aboard the German flagship Donau anchored off Bahrain. It was a virtually impossible to declare a 100 percent demolition because a mine could float from iraqi Waters or appear from the 1980-88 Iraq Iran War Leder said. A shipping is As Safe As can be a declared vice adm. Dieter f. Braun commander of the German naval unit. German italian dutch French belgian and British ships have been leaving the Gulf gradually As the operation winds Down. The task Force destroyed 1,247 magnetic acoustic and Contact mines mainly soviet made. After the War ended Iraq told the .-led coalition that it had planted some 1,200 mines off Kuwait and Iraq in a semicircle spreading 50 Miles into the sea. The allies estimated the number at More than 1,300. At the height of the min sweeping. 38 vessels accompanied by eight support ships and some mine sweeping helicopters took part. About 12 ships will remain including four from saudi Arabia. Leder said . And japanese forces continue to Clear a Small number of mines from an area spreading into iraqi and iranian Waters. Than a formal declaration of War. In any Case they note that japanese diplomats had been instructed to deliver the note to Hull Only a half hour before the Start of the attack on Pearl Harbor. In fact the japanese were delayed and did not hand the note to the Secretary of state until about an hour after the bombs started falling. The United states and its allies imposed economic sanctions against Japan following the outbreak of the sino japanese War in 1937 in an Effort to Block Tokyo a expansion in Asia. The Only regret voiced by Tojo in the notes was that weak civilian control of the army by his predecessor As prime minister let Young lower ranking officers provoke a full scale conflict with China. A the emperor worried about this problem. I spent some Effort to solve this problem after i took Power. I am sorry  solve it a Tojo wrote. The War with China followed Japan a occupation of China a Manchuria several years earlier. Tojo defended Japan a rejection of demands that it quit Manchuria saying Tokyo had a legitimate right to defend its property and interests there. Tojo was arrested and tried As a War criminal after Japan surrendered in september 1945. After an unsuccessful attempt at suicide he was locked up in Omori prison. There he wrote the equivalent of 40 pages of notes in the Blank spaces around japanese poems in a Book his wife Katsuko had Given him. The other set of notes amounting to 220 pages when typed was written while he was in Sulamo prison As he was preparing to be questioned by the Tokyo War crimes tribunal. Those notes written using official documents on meetings with the emperor Ana Cabinet describe japanese politics and military affairs leading up to the War and during the beginning of his term of office which lasted until 1944.world unknown fatal disease strikes nigerian villages from wire reports Lagos Nigeria a an unidentified disease that is fatal in sue Days has killed about 600 people in Southeastern Nigeria and prompted thousands of others to flee doctors and Community leaders said. The disease is a characterized by fever general body pain jaundice vomiting of blood restlessness inability to pass urine and coma followed by death a or. Samuel Idi Agbe told reporters Friday. Some owns in Bendel state including Embiri in Bodo and Muhu Are recording about six deaths a Day from the disease said Idi Agbe medical director of Anima Hospital in the City of Agbor. Patients die within sue Days of contracting the illness he said. Idi Agbe criticized Bendel state government saying it had been unable to say from tests whether the disease was yellow fever hepatitis or Lassa fever. He added that they had sent 30,000 doses of yellow fever vaccines for a population of 250,000. Politician s killer sought Liege Belgium a police on Friday searched for a motive and the killer of a Well known belgian politician who was shot dead on the Street after leaving the apartment of a Friend. Andre cools a 63-year-old francophone socialist was a key figure during the 1960s and 1970s in setting up a new state Structure that gave dutch Speakma Flanders and French speaking Wallonia More regional autonomy. With then prime minister Gaston Eyskens he formed two Center left governments extending from 1968 to 1973. The unidentified woman who with him when he was attacked thursday morning was shot in the Abdomen and was  than 50 investigators Are working full time on the crime police said. Cools had also been an adviser to King Bau Douin and mayor of the Liege suburb of file Malle. He had bowed out of Active National politics earlier this year but observers said he remained a player behind the scenes