January 23, 2002	Wednesday	Ziqa'ad 8, 1422

TOKYO, Jan 22: Donor fatigue set in quickly for Japan’s foreign ministry, organisers of the two-day donor conference here which garnered pledges of 4.5 billion dollars to rebuild Afghanistan.

In an extraordinary fit of pique amid the goodwill and generosity toward Afghanistan, the ministry barred two Japanese non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from attending because their head had said in a newspaper interview that he did not trust the Japanese government “all that much.”

The spat even overshadowed the outcome of the donor conference for the Japanese media Tuesday, as the NGO head, Kensuke Onishi found himself hounded round the conference venue by reporters and camera crews, after the ministry relented.

The relief organisations, Peace Winds Japan and Japan Platform founded by Onishi, were earlier barred by the foreign ministry from participating in both the conference and an international NGO meeting Sunday that preceded the main conference.

Both events were hosted by the foreign ministry.—AFP