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Japan to extend naval support for afghan anti-terror operations
Tokyo, Apr 20: A Japanese naval operation that provides non-combat support for the U.S.-led war on terror in Afghanistan will be extended by six months, officials said on Tuesday.
Tokyo, Apr 20: A Japanese naval operation that provides non-combat support for the U.S.-led war on terror in Afghanistan will be extended by six months, officials said on Tuesday.
The nation's ruling party has decided to extend from May until November an operation launched in November 2001 to refuel and supply warships of the US-led coalition hunting down terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.
Three destroyers and two support vessels from the Maritime Self-Defence Force stationed in the Arabian Sea are scheduled to return to Japan on May 1.
They will be replaced by two destroyers and a single support vessel on a mission that will last through Nov. 1, an official with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said on condition of anonymity.
The Japanese naval contingent will be scaled down because the coalition's refueling needs have decreased, the official said. The plan will be approved by Japan's Cabinet on Friday, he said.
The non-combat mission by the Japanese navy in the Arabian Sea was the first in a series of policy decisions by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi that have tested the limits of the nation's pacifist constitution since he took office in April 2001.
This year Koizumi ordered a controversial humanitarian operation, in which about 1,000 Japanese military personnel are helping to rebuild Iraq.
Japan's government announced Tuesday it will give USD 350,000 to a French humanitarian organization supplying water to a province in southern Iraq, where about 500 Japanese troops are involved in reconstruction.
Bureau Report
Three destroyers and two support vessels from the Maritime Self-Defence Force stationed in the Arabian Sea are scheduled to return to Japan on May 1.
They will be replaced by two destroyers and a single support vessel on a mission that will last through Nov. 1, an official with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said on condition of anonymity.
The Japanese naval contingent will be scaled down because the coalition's refueling needs have decreased, the official said. The plan will be approved by Japan's Cabinet on Friday, he said.
The non-combat mission by the Japanese navy in the Arabian Sea was the first in a series of policy decisions by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi that have tested the limits of the nation's pacifist constitution since he took office in April 2001.
This year Koizumi ordered a controversial humanitarian operation, in which about 1,000 Japanese military personnel are helping to rebuild Iraq.
Japan's government announced Tuesday it will give USD 350,000 to a French humanitarian organization supplying water to a province in southern Iraq, where about 500 Japanese troops are involved in reconstruction.
Bureau Report