President Barack Obama says he wants to visit the Japanese cities of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki sometime during his presidency, but will not
have time when he travels to Japan later this week.
In an
interview with Japanese broadcaster NHK, Mr. Obama said he would be
honored to have the opportunity to visit the two cities that were
devastated by U.S. atomic bombs at the end of World War II.
If he does, Mr. Obama will be the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Calls
have grown in Japan for Mr. Obama to visit the two cities since his
April speech in Prague envisioning a nuclear-free world and since he
won the Nobel Peace Prize last month.
The mayors of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki have invited Mr. Obama to visit the two cities before a
United Nations review of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty next May.
The president is due to arrive in Tokyo on Friday to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
