Geneva, 18 April 2007. The International Peace Bureau is shocked and deeply distressed by the tragic murder - in the final days of his election campaign - of Nagasaki Mayor Iccho Itoh. We extend our profound sympathy to his family, friends and colleagues, and to the citizens of Nagasaki.

Hiroshi Taka, former IPB Vice-President and Secretary-General of the Japan Council against A & H Bombs, said today: "Representing the Hibakusha and many other citizens of an A-bombed city, Mayor Itoh has stood in the forefront of the efforts to abolish nuclear weapons, in joining actions worldwide with NGOs, including the Hague Appeal for Peace Conference in 1999 and the NPT Review Conference and related actions of citizens in May 2005 in New York.  Every August, he looked forward to receiving and talking with overseas delegates of the World Conference against A and H Bombs.  His words of solidarity extended to the World Conference were always heartwarming...We call for a thorough investigation of the cause, and for measures to ensure that this tragedy will not be repeated for a third time".
(In 1990, Mayor Itoh's predecessor, Mayor Motoshima, was shot and seriously wounded).

In 2006 the IPB awarded the Sean MacBride Peace Prize, our annual award made to people or organisations who have made significant contributions to peace, to Mayor Itoh along with Mayor Akiba of Hiroshima, for their remarkable, and tireless, work through the Mayors for Peace organisation, in keeping the world informed and mobilized about the enormous dangers of nuclear weapons and the need to eliminate them.

"I had the honor of making the award at a ceremony in Helsinki, Finland in September. Mayor Itoh, who was not able to be at the Helsinki ceremony, received his award in Japan later. Between the massacre in Virginia and this tragic murder, it is high time for the world to wake up to the danger of guns, and with the exception of police and armed forces, they should all be abolished!" said Cora Weiss, former IPB President, and presently the organisation's UN representative.