Government Fires Ambassador to Peru

The government fired its ambassador to Peru, forcing him to give up his post to take the blame for the lengthy hostage siege at his residence in Lima. “We have heard yet again Ambassador Morihisa Aoki’s desire to step down, and, after considering many things, we have decided to ask him to leave the post,” Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda told a special parliamentary session on the hostage crisis that had questioned Aoki about his behavior. The envoy’s resignation had been regarded as only a symbolic offer that he did not think would be accepted.