Japanese Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda said he tried to resign on Thursday to take responsibility for Japan's Peru hostage crisis but was persuaded by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hash-i-mo-to to stay on.
"I offered my resignation because I had great responsibility for the loss of credibility Japan's foreign policy suffered as a result of the Peru incident," Ikeda said."The prime minister told me in reply that resigning would be taking the easy way out and would not fulfill my duties. I will continue to deal with diplomatic issues to restore trust (in the Foreign Ministry)," Ikeda told a news conference.
Ikeda's proposed resignation - which analysts said was a widely expected ritual act of atonement - came as the ministry published a report on the four-month hostage seizure.
The 100-page report cites lapses in intelligence gathering and analysis of the security situation in Peru, where on Dec. 17 heavily armed Marxist guerrillas took captive hundreds of VIP guests attending a reception at the Japanese ambassador's residence.
The standoff ended on April 22 when Peruvian commandos raided the residence in Lima and freed all but one of the 72 hostages. One hostage and two soldiers died, while all 14 Marxist rebels were killed.
The report calls for the establishment of a ministry-wide body to analyze security and increase security personnel and equipment outside embassies. "Foreign policy credibility suffered because, as a result of the incident, the Japanese public got the impression that diplomats were not doing their job of information-gathering and analysis," Ikeda said.
Ikeda said the Foreign Ministry would not seek punishment under civil service negligence or official misconduct laws for officials held responsible for security shortcomings in Peru, Ikeda said.
Instead, the ministry meted out its most serious internal punishment - a severe reprimand - to Morihisa Aoki, ambassador to Peru when the hostage siege began, and two senior officials. A fourth official received a reprimand, the second heaviest internal punishment, Ikeda said.
Aoki, who hosted the party raided by the rebels, resigned from his office last month after his return to Japan, where media accused him of lax security and high-handed behavior during the crisis.
Despite Aoki's fall from grace in his homeland, the Peruvian government decorated him with the country's highest honor - the Order of the Sun - in recognition of his dignified resolve during the crisis.