FM Nakasone willing to consider alternative plans for SDF mission+

TOKYO, Sept. 30 Kyodo - Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone showed willingness Tuesday to consider alternative plans, including new activities involving the Self-Defense Forces, in case a bill to extend the current antiterrorism support mission in the Indian Ocean fails to clear parliament.

''Of course the top priority for us is to get this bill passed. But if there
are other things we can do, of course we should consider them too,'' Nakasone,
who was appointed to his post last Wednesday in Prime Minister Taro Aso's new
Cabinet, said in an interview with Kyodo News and other Japanese media.
''In fighting terrorism, it would be rather difficult to have the private
sector do it alone,'' he said, indicating that alternative plans will likely
include new missions for the SDF.
While underscoring the government's belief that the current deployment for
refueling allied vessels in the U.S.-led operations in and around Afghanistan
should be continued, Nakasone acknowledged that political tensions in
parliament are a hurdle for passing the bill for extension beyond the mission's
January expiration.
''For us, we don't know when there will be a (general) election. It's true the
schedule is very tight,'' said Nakasone.
''Through debate in the parliament, we hope to engage in sincere discussions
with the opposition camp on the importance of this (extension) and to gain the
public's understanding by explaining that the mission is also in the interest
of the Japanese people's daily lives,'' he added, citing the example that over
90 percent of Japan's fuel oil comes from the Middle East region.
Earlier Tuesday, Nakasone acknowledged in a news conference that the ruling
camp is facing difficulty in securing passage of the bill in the current
parliament session to extend the temporary law for a year until January 2010.
Asked about Aso's recent remarks that hinted at considering changing the
government's interpretation of the pacifist Constitution to allow its forces to
exercise the right to collective self-defense, Nakasone affirmed in the
interview that the current interpretation remains unchanged.
However, Nakasone expressed support for the idea that Japan should ''engage in
thorough discussion'' on whether the current interpretation is adequate at a
time when the global security environment has changed significantly over the
course of postwar Japan, such as the SDF's participation in peacekeeping
operations and joint exercises with foreign militaries.
Nakasone is son of former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, who was known for
his nationalistic views and his close relationship with former U.S. President
Ronald Reagan.
On North Korea, Nakasone reiterated that Japan will continue to press for
Pyongyang to launch an agreed-on reinvestigation into abductions of Japanese
and expressed hope that an upcoming visit to Pyongyang by U.S. Assistant
Secretary of State Christopher Hill would move forward the stalled six-party
process on denuclearizing the North.
He also said the Aso administration adheres to the stance that ''Japan will
normalize ties with the North after pending issues are resolved comprehensively
and the unfortunate past (wartime history) settled.''
The opposition camp, which holds the majority in the House of Councillors, has
said it is against extension of the Indian Ocean mission and threatens to vote
down the bill in the upper house.
The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party
currently has a two-thirds majority in the powerful House of Representatives
and it allows them to hold a revote in the lower house to override the upper
house in the case of a rejection.
The ruling parties resorted to a revote in January this year to resume the
mission, which had terminated earlier amid political wrangling.
But prospects for passing the bill remain unclear amid speculation that a snap
election will be called and the ruling coalition may lose seats.
Dispatch of the SDF overseas is controversial in Japan largely due to the
country's pacifist Constitution. Public opinion is also split over whether
costly fuel should be given free of charge to foreign nations for the mission
even in the name of international contribution.
==Kyodo