HIROSHIMA, Aug. 2 Kyodo -- The mayor of Kabul is unlikely to attend a ceremony next Tuesday marking the 57th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima, city officials said Friday.

The officials said it is unlikely the mayor of the Afghan capital will visit the western Japan city because they have not received a reply from the mayor's office.

Hiroshima invited the mayors of New York and Kabul -- two cities related to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- so that they could both send messages appealing for world peace.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg had told the city in June that he would not be able to come, citing his busy schedule.

Kabul just days ago saw a change in mayors. Fazel Karim stepped down on July 21 after Afghan President Hamid Karzai said there was corruption in the city hall and the city will soon be welcoming a new mayor.

Karzai's spokesman on Monday said Mahammad Anwar Jakdalak, head of the Afghan Olympic Committee, has been appointed the city's mayor.

Hiroshima plans to send the two cities gold paper cranes folded by participants at Tuesday's event, they said. In Japan, paper cranes are often used to express prayers for peace, and are also presented as a get-well wish.