Hiroshima 70th A-bomb anniversary will draw officials from record 100 countries

The Hiroshima Municipal Government said it expects representatives from a record 100 countries to attend its annual ceremony on Thursday to mark the U.S. atomic bombing, as peace activists gathered in the city.
The participants will include U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, who will be attending the event for the second year in a row after assuming her post in late 2013, and a senior U.S. State Department official in charge of arms control, according to the U.S. government.

Kennedy and Rose Gottemoeller, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, will also attend a ceremony to be held on Sunday in Nagasaki, the other city devastated by a U.S. atomic bomb. It’s the first time that a high-level Washington official will attend the two ceremonies, according to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.

The move comes amid growing calls in Japan for U.S. President Barack Obama to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki to see the human consequences using nuclear weapons.

From the United Nations, Acting High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Kim Won-soo will attend the ceremony and read out a message from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Diplomats in Japan from nuclear powers Britain, France and Russia, as well as the European Union will also attend the ceremony, according to the Hiroshima Municipal Government.... Kyodo
5/8/15