Shinzo Abe: World leaders express shock over assassination
- Published
Barack Obama and Shinzo Abe in 2016
World leaders have been reacting with shock to the killing of the former Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe.
US President Joe Biden has ordered US flags to be flown at half-staff over the weekend in tribute to Abe.
His Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, who himself survived an assassination attempt, announced three days of official mourning.
Abe was shot at twice while he was giving a speech on a street in the city of Nara on Friday morning.
The suspect, named as Tetsuya Yamagami, admitted shooting Abe with a homemade gun and said he had a grudge against a "specific organisation", police said.
Both allies and traditional rivals of Abe have offered their condolences.
Mr Biden said he was "stunned, outraged and deeply saddened" by Abe's death.
"Even at the moment he was attacked, he was engaged in the work of democracy," the president said.
Trump and Abe played golf together in 2019
Mr Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, said Abe "was a unifier like no other" and said he hoped the suspect would be "be dealt with swiftly and harshly".
Barack Obama recalled "the moving experience of traveling to Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor together".
Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro expressed "extreme indignation" at the killing and declared three days of official mourning in solidarity with Japan.
Mr Bolsonaro described Abe as a "brilliant leader" and "great friend of Brazil" in a tweet including a photo of the two men shaking hands at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in 2019.
"Let his murder be punished rigorously. We are with Japan," he tweeted.
Brazil has the largest Japanese community outside the archipelago, with about 1.9 million immigrants and descendants.
The Queen said she was deeply saddened by the news
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II said she was "deeply saddened" by the news, adding that she had "fond memories of meeting Mr Abe and his wife during their visit to the United Kingdom in 2016".
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson called it a "despicable attack" and said that the UK stands with the Japanese people at a "dark and sad time".
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called it a "brutal assassination". "This heinous act of violence has no excuse," he tweeted.
Putin called Abe "an outstanding statesman"
Russia's Vladimir Putin said he contacted Abe's family to offer his condolences.
Abe was an "outstanding statesman" who "did a lot for the development of good neighbourly relations between our countries", Mr Putin said.
Tributes have also been paid by countries that had a frostier relationship with Abe and Japan.
China and South Korea have historically had complicated and fraught relationships with Japan. Abe, known for his military hawkishness, was unpopular with citizens of both countries during his term in office.
Comments gloating over the attack on Abe have dominated Chinese social media, and have also surfaced on Korean platforms.
But South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called Abe's killing an "unacceptable act of crime".
"I extend my consolation and condolences to his family and the Japanese people for having lost their longest-serving prime minister and a respected politician," Mr Yoon said.
Watch: 'I still can't believe it' - Mourners gather on street where Shinzo Abe was shot
Chinese President Xi Jinping has not made a statement, but Beijing's embassy in Japan said Abe made "contributions towards improving China-Japan relations during his term".
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared a day of national mourning in honour of Abe.
"I am shocked and saddened beyond words at the tragic demise of one of my dearest friends, Shinzo Abe," Modi wrote on Twitter. "We stand in solidarity with our Japanese brothers and sisters in this difficult moment."