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Secret Service to handle security for imperial couple
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Posted on Apr 27 2005
U.S. Secret Service agents will be coming to Saipan to handle security during the scheduled visit of Japan’s imperial couple on June 27.
Gov. Juan N. Babauta said yesterday that the federal and local governments have started preparing for the visit, which he described as “a very historic event for the CNMI community.”
He announced that the U.S. government had designated the Department of the Interior as the contact office for the arrival of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko on Saipan.
Locally, Public Safety Commissioner Santiago Tudela has been appointed as the main contact official for all security-related matters.
“The Secret Service will also be involved. We expect them to simply take over once they arrive,” Babauta said.
The couple is planning to stay at the Japanese-owned Hotel Nikko Saipan during their visit, he added.
Other than this, however, no specific details are currently available regarding the visit, according to the governor. Babauta said more information would be provided after his meetings with the involved federal agencies, as well as the Consular Office of Japan on Saipan.
“I am just elated that the emperor and the empress are in fact coming. This is certainly going to be very historic for the CNMI community. I hope it will have positive side effects in terms of boosting our tourism industry. But for now, we want to be able to welcome the emperor and the empress to Saipan. We want to ensure that they are going to enjoy their visit,” Babauta said.
The visit by Japan’s imperial couple was finalized in a Japanese Cabinet meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
The emperor and empress are scheduled to leave Tokyo on June 27 and return in the afternoon of the following day. The visit, the first by any imperial family member in the postwar era to Saipan, will take place ahead of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II this year.
While on Saipan, the couple will mourn and pay tribute to those who died in the war and to pray for world peace, according to Japan Consul Takeo Saito.
