The Japan Times: Dec. 18, 2003
The Foreign Ministry was thrown into confusion Wednesday when Press Secretary Hatsuhisa Takashima told a news conference that the Japanese Embassy in Baghdad had been evacuated -- a remark he later retracted...."The embassy has been moved to another place and it is functioning there," Takashima said. "(Embassy officials) have all moved there.".......Takashima later retracted his remarks at a hastily arranged news conference. "The remark I made earlier that the embassy was moved to another place was my misunderstanding," he said repeatedly.
"I profoundly offer my apologies."
