Newsletter No. 300
News-Analysis
June 10, 2006

 

THE FOREIGN MINISTER OF DJIBOUTI VISITS TOKYO

Not that anyone noticed, but Foreign Minister Mahmud Ali Yusuf of Djibouti visited Japan from the 5th to the 8th. I discovered precisely zero articles about this event in both the Japanese and English language press. As a result, it is difficult to say anything at all about this visit except to note that it occurred.

The MOFA webpage carried a brief announcement about the visit and showed a picture of this guest meeting with Foreign Minister Taro Aso, but that’s about it. The purpose of the visit was purportedly “to exchange wide-ranging views on bilateral relations between Japan and Djibouti and the peace and development of Africa.”

This was Mr. Yusuf’s first visit to Japan, but Djibouti’s former head of state, President Hassan Ghouled Aptidon, visited Japan on three occasions in the 1990s.

Djibouti is a small East African state that is said to be the host to the only US military base in sub-Saharan Africa at Camp Le Monier. It is also home to France’s main foreign military base. The total population is less than half a million, of which 94% is thought to be Muslim. The main ethnic groups are Somali and Afar.