ID :
207741
Sat, 09/17/2011 - 18:39
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/207741
The shortlink copeid
Japan mulls sending GSDF to South Sudan for U.N. peacekeeping mission
TOKYO, Sept. 17 Kyodo -
The Japanese government is considering sending Ground Self-Defense Force members to South Sudan to take part in the United Nations' peacekeeping operations there, and plans to soon send a survey team to the new country, government sources said Saturday.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is expected to unveil the possible plan to send a ground forces' engineering unit when he visits New York later this month, to show Japan's willingness to make international contributions, the sources said.
Noda plans to mention it in his speech at the U.N. General Assembly session and during his talks with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, they said.
Regarding the possible dispatch of GSDF members, South Sudan's information minister Benjamin Marial told Kyodo News by phone he thinks it is a good idea and his country would thank and welcome the Japanese unit.
Describing Japan as a friend of South Sudan, Marial said he hopes the engineering unit would help build infrastructure in the African nation such as roads and teach the South Sudanese military how to carry out construction work.
The United Nations sought help from Japan in supporting its nation-building work in South Sudan, which became an independent state in July.
Japan's survey team will gather information about local needs, the public security situation and channels for food and fuel supplies, according to the sources.
As a result of the survey, if Japan decides to send GSDF members based on the peacekeeping operations cooperation law, it will decide details including the size of the unit to be sent and its specific mission. The actual dispatch is likely to take place possibly early next year, the sources said.
When Ban visited Japan in August, he directly asked, during meetings with then Prime Minister Naoto Kan and then Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, for Japan to send a GSDF engineering unit to the peacekeeping operation mission in South Sudan.
At the time, Kitazawa indicated it would be difficult for Japan to send Self-Defense Forces engineers because they were involved in recovery operations following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, as well as in a U.N. mission in Haiti, which was hit by a massive quake last year.
Kitazawa said Japan would limit its involvement to dispatching two SDF officers to participate in the U.N. mission in Sudan in rotation, which has been done since 2008. Those two SDF officers have taken charge of managing logistics and a database of security information at the mission headquarters.
Some in Japan's Defense Ministry are cautious about sending GSDF engineers to South Sudan now, due to the unstable security situation and difficulty in securing supplies, the sources said.
But the Foreign Ministry hopes to use the plan to highlight Noda's foreign affairs debut at the United Nations, as the SDF's full-fledged involvement in dealing with the aftermath of the major disaster that hit the northeastern Japan region last March ended in August, and in light of South Sudan's rich oil resources.
The Japanese government is considering sending Ground Self-Defense Force members to South Sudan to take part in the United Nations' peacekeeping operations there, and plans to soon send a survey team to the new country, government sources said Saturday.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is expected to unveil the possible plan to send a ground forces' engineering unit when he visits New York later this month, to show Japan's willingness to make international contributions, the sources said.
Noda plans to mention it in his speech at the U.N. General Assembly session and during his talks with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, they said.
Regarding the possible dispatch of GSDF members, South Sudan's information minister Benjamin Marial told Kyodo News by phone he thinks it is a good idea and his country would thank and welcome the Japanese unit.
Describing Japan as a friend of South Sudan, Marial said he hopes the engineering unit would help build infrastructure in the African nation such as roads and teach the South Sudanese military how to carry out construction work.
The United Nations sought help from Japan in supporting its nation-building work in South Sudan, which became an independent state in July.
Japan's survey team will gather information about local needs, the public security situation and channels for food and fuel supplies, according to the sources.
As a result of the survey, if Japan decides to send GSDF members based on the peacekeeping operations cooperation law, it will decide details including the size of the unit to be sent and its specific mission. The actual dispatch is likely to take place possibly early next year, the sources said.
When Ban visited Japan in August, he directly asked, during meetings with then Prime Minister Naoto Kan and then Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, for Japan to send a GSDF engineering unit to the peacekeeping operation mission in South Sudan.
At the time, Kitazawa indicated it would be difficult for Japan to send Self-Defense Forces engineers because they were involved in recovery operations following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, as well as in a U.N. mission in Haiti, which was hit by a massive quake last year.
Kitazawa said Japan would limit its involvement to dispatching two SDF officers to participate in the U.N. mission in Sudan in rotation, which has been done since 2008. Those two SDF officers have taken charge of managing logistics and a database of security information at the mission headquarters.
Some in Japan's Defense Ministry are cautious about sending GSDF engineers to South Sudan now, due to the unstable security situation and difficulty in securing supplies, the sources said.
But the Foreign Ministry hopes to use the plan to highlight Noda's foreign affairs debut at the United Nations, as the SDF's full-fledged involvement in dealing with the aftermath of the major disaster that hit the northeastern Japan region last March ended in August, and in light of South Sudan's rich oil resources.
