Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi will head on Saturday for the Japanese capital Tokyo on a few-day official visit.

Speaking to the state-run 26sep.net, al-Qirbi said that he would convey a letter from President Ali Abdullah Saleh to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on bilateral relations and joint cooperation between the two friendly countries and Japan's role in supporting the development process in Yemen as well as Japan’s contributions also in the framework of the Yemen Friends.The Yemeni official added that he will discuss also with his Japanese counterpart, Seiji Maehara, ways to strengthen the Japanese support to the Yemen Coastguards, as well as coordination between the two countries on regional issues, including piracy in the Horn of Africa, the fight against terrorism and the peace process in the Middle East.