邦人人質事件 イスラム過激派の許せぬテロ

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Jan. 19, 2013)
Govt must deal sternly with Islamic extremists' terrorism
邦人人質事件　イスラム過激派の許せぬテロ（1月18日付・読売社説）

In a despicable act of terrorism, a group of Islamist extremists seized a natural gas complex in Ain Amenas in eastern Algeria on Wednesday and took a large number of foreign hostages, including Japanese and U.S. nationals.
　卑劣なテロである。
　北アフリカのアルジェリアでイスラム武装勢力が東部イナメナスの天然ガス関連施設を襲撃し、日米など多数の外国人を人質にして立てこもった。

The Japanese taken hostage are apparently employees of or related to JGC Corp., a Yokohama-based plant manufacturer known as Nikki in Japanese. Details about their safety remain unknown.
　日本人は、プラントメーカー「日揮」の関係者が拘束されているようだが、安否の詳細は不明だ。

The Algerian military launched a military attack aimed at rescuing the hostages, but there are reports many of them may have been killed.
人質解放のためにアルジェリア軍が攻撃を開始し、多数の犠牲者が出たとも報じられている。

This is an extremely worrying situation.
　極めて憂慮される事態だ。

It is a matter of course for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on a visit to Hanoi, to strongly condemn the hostage-taking incident, saying it "can never be tolerated."
　安倍首相が、滞在先のベトナム・ハノイで人質事件について「断じて許すことはできない」と厳しく非難したのは当然だ。

Japan and other countries involved in the hostage crisis must work together and cooperate with the Algerian government to rescue the hostages.
　日本など関係国は連携し、アルジェリア政府に協力して人質の救出に全力を挙げねばならない。

The identity of the hostage-takers has not been fully confirmed. However, they claim their action is in retaliation for the French military's intervention in neighboring Mali and they are demanding French troops cease military operations.
　武装勢力の正体に不明な点もあるが、犯行声明は、仏軍による隣国マリへの介入に対する「報復」だと主張し、仏軍の軍事行動の停止を求めている。

===

Influx of insurgents into Mali

The Mali government has been undermined since a coup d'etat last year by rebels in the country's military. Taking advantage of this situation, armed Islamist extremists streamed into Mali from Algeria and seized control of Mali's northern region. Foreigners have been frequently abducted in Mali, making the country's security situation even more precarious.
　マリ政府は、昨年の軍反乱部隊のクーデターで弱体化した。その隙をついて、アルジェリアからイスラム武装勢力が流入し、北部を支配している。外国人誘拐が相次ぎ、治安が悪化している。

In December, the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution in response to requests from the Malian government, authorizing military intervention by the country's neighbors.
　国連の安全保障理事会は昨年１２月、マリ政府の要請を受けて、周辺国による軍事介入を認める決議を採択した。

It was perhaps inevitable that France, Mali's former colonial power, found it necessary to launch military operations in that country to defeat the armed Islamist forces. Should the stability of North Africa become even more convulsive because of the rampant militancy of the armed extremists, the region's already serious situation could deteriorate.
　旧宗主国フランスが武装勢力を掃討するとして１１日から介入に踏み切ったのは、やむを得なかったと言える。武装勢力の跳梁(ちょうりょう)で北アフリカ地域の安定が揺らげば、事態は一層深刻になりかねない。

The hostage crisis is a major challenge for Abe's administration. The capability of the Abe government, which has defined the task of crisis management as one of its three policy pillars alongside resuscitation of the economy and reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake, is now being tested.
　こうした背景下で起きた今回の事件は、安倍政権にとって大きな試練だ。「危機管理」を、「経済再生」「復興」と並ぶ柱に位置づけた政権の能力が問われる。

The initial government response to the hostage crisis was swift.
　事件直後の初期対応は迅速だった。

===

Beef up intl cooperation

In a telephone call to his Algerian counterpart after the crisis began, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida urged that every possible effort should be made to ensure the safety of the hostages. The government lost no time in deciding to send Parliamentary Vice Foreign Minister Minoru Kiuchi, who was on a tour of European nations, to Algeria.
岸田外相がアルジェリアの外相との電話会談で人質の安全確保を要請し、欧州訪問中の城内実外務政務官をアルジェリアに派遣することを決めた。

The government also set up a countermeasures task force comprising ministers concerned to deal with the crisis. In the task force's first session, it confirmed a policy of "making people's lives the top priority."
　政府は、関係閣僚による対策本部を設置し、初会合で「人命第一」の方針で対処することを確認した。

In another conversation over the phone, Abe and British Prime Minister David Cameron agreed on the need for the two countries to cooperate closely in resolving the crisis.
安倍首相はキャメロン英首相と電話会談し、事件解決に向け緊密に協力することで一致した。

Eradicating terrorism cannot be achieved without strengthening the cooperation of the international community to resolutely deal with terrorist acts.
　テロ根絶には、国際社会が連帯を強化して毅然(きぜん)として対応していかねばならない。

Not only in Algeria but also in other countries in the Middle East and Africa, terrorists frequently target foreign nationals.
　アルジェリアに限らず、中東アフリカ各地で外国人を狙うテロが頻発している。

The Foreign Ministry should exert every effort to ensure the safety of Japanese in these areas by remaining in close contact with the United States and other countries so they can exchange pertinent information.
外務省は、米国はじめ各国と情報交換を密にしながら、現地の邦人の安全確保に万全を期してもらいたい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Jan. 18, 2013)
（2013年1月18日02時01分 読売新聞）