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Mori to visit G8 partners

TOKYO: Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori plans to visit all of the Group of Eight (G8) partner nations ahead of the elite group's summit in southern Japan in July, an official said on Tuesday.

Mori agreed with Russian president Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation on Monday to meet in St Petersburg, the foreign ministry official said. "The St Petersburg meeting was decided yesterday and Mori is scheduled to visit Russia April 28-30," the official said. "Arrangements have been made on his possible visits to the other G8 nations following the Russian trip".

Mori, who has limited experience in diplomacy, is expected to use the tour to seek cooperation from other G8 leaders for the July 21-23 summit in Okinawa and build personal ties with them.

He told parliament in his first policy speech Friday he intended to "work on establishing close relations of trust with other leaders" before the summit.

The G8 comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.

The Kyodo news agency reported that Mori also talked separately with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema by telephone late Monday.

Mori stressed his intention to make the summit the "top priority diplomatic event" this year, Kyodo quoted a government official as saying.ÑAFP