JAPAN'S PRIME MINISTER OBUCHI CLAPS DURING RALLY APPEALING FOR RETURN OF NORTHERN ISLANDS IN TOKYO,...

Japan's Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and Foreign Minister Yohei Kono (behind Obuchi) clap their hands during a rally appealing for the return of four small islands off Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, a subject of a long-standing territorial dispute with Russia, February 7, which is "(return) northern territories day" in Tokyo. Obuchi vowed to do his best to resolve by the end of the year the issue of sovereignty of the islands, which has been a major sticking point in the signing of a formal World War Two peace treaty between the two countries. TA/PB