"The Prime Minister will still meet with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday (January 18) afternoon," Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Yutaka Yokoi said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has decided to cut short his stay in Jakarta due to the hostage crisis in Algeria, where two Japanese workers were killed.

"The Prime Minister will still meet with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday (January 18) afternoon," Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Yutaka Yokoi said here on Friday.

According to Presidential Staff Tengku Faizasyah, Abe is scheduled to meet with President Yudhoyono at the Merdeka Palace on Friday afternoon to discuss, among other things, the expansion of bilateral cooperation in various fields.

Earlier, Reuters news agency reported that 30 hostages, including at least seven foreigners, were killed on Thursday (January 17) when Algerian forces stormed a desert gas plant seized by Islamist militants.

Among the dead hostages were eight Algerians, two Japanese, two Britons and one French national. The nationalities of the other victims were unclear.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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