Obama will visit Hiroshima, but not apologize for bomb

                      

Washington / Tokyo - Barack Obama will make this month the first US president to visit Hiroshima in Japan, but will not apologize for the US atomic bomb that devastated the city at the end of World War II, the White House said on Tuesday.

Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize at the beginning of his presidency in 2009, in part for its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation, Obama will pass on May 27 with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the first attack site nuclear bomb of the world.

With the end of his last term in government approaching, Obama will "highlight its ongoing commitment in the search for peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons," the White House said in a statement.

"It will not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb at the end of World War II. Instead, it will offer a focused vision of our shared future," said the vice-chairperson of Obama's national security, Ben Rhodes. The visit is part of a 21 trip to May 28 in Asia, including a G7 summit in Japan and his first trip to Vietnam. This will be the tenth visit of Obama to Asia.

On the last day summit in Japan, Obama and Abe will visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, near the site where a plane of American war threw an atomic bomb 71 years ago at the end of World War II.