KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian King Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and Queen Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah have conveyed their condolences to the family of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (picture), who was assassinated Friday.
In a post on Istana Negara (National Palace)’s Facebook, Their Majesties expressed their sadness over his passing and hoped that the family will be resilient in this time of sorrow.
“His passing is a great loss to Japan and its people,” it said.
According to Anadolu Agency (AA), Abe was shot from behind while delivering a speech at a political campaign in Nara city. His assailant has been arrested.
On March 11, Al-Sultan Abdullah said he granted an audience to Abe, who was here for a three-day official visit as the special envoy of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, at Istana Negara.
The visit was also in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of Malaysia’s Look East Policy (LEP) and the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and Japan.
At the meeting, Al-Sultan Abdullah also conferred the Honorary Doctorate in Political Economics to Abe, in conjunction with the International Islamic University Malaysia’s (IIUM) 36th convocation.
It was also their second meeting, after the first one at the Imperial Palace, Tokyo when His Majesty attended the enthronement ceremony of Japan’s 126th Emperor, Emperor Naruhito, on Oct 23, 2019.
On the same note, Japanese ambassador to Malaysia, Katsuhiko Takahashi also expressed his deepest condolences over the news of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s death after being shot on Friday.
Through his Twitter account Friday, he felt honoured to have been given the chance to host him here in March this year.
“Deepest condolences on the demise of former PM Shinzo Abe. It was a great honour to have him in Malaysia in March,” he said.
Abe died at 5.03 pm local time (0803GMT), AA quoted authorities at a hospital in Japan’s western Nara city.
He was 67 years old. (photoBERNAMA)
— NNN-BERNAMA
