Japan pledges extra $100m for Palestine

Japan has given Palestine $760 million in aid since 1993 and an additional $60 million in special aid following the death in November last year of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Abbas arrived in Japan on Sunday for a three-day visit that is the first by any Palestinian leader since longtime leader Arafat came in 2000. He leaves Japan on Tuesday for China and is set to meet with US President Bush on May 26 in Washington.

In an interview with Japan's Kyodo news agency on Sunday, Abbas said Japan should continue to support Palestine, both economically and politically, as it moves toward the establishment of an independent nation in a peaceful Middle East.

Meanwhile, Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas said in remarks published yesterday that summer elections would go ahead as scheduled after talk of a delay amid fears the Islamist group Hamas would post gains.