ID :
22551
Sat, 10/04/2008 - 08:23
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/22551
The shortlink copeid
Japan to dispatch 2 defense force officers to Sudan
TOKYO, Oct. 3 Kyodo - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso's Cabinet formally decided Friday to send two Ground Self-Defense Force officers to Sudan later this month to help operations at the headquarters of the U.N. Mission in Sudan in Khartoum.
The two Japanese officers will engage in logistical and database management at
the head office of UNMIS, which some 10,000 personnel from more than 70
countries have joined, Japanese government officials said.
The term of the first dispatch will last until June 30, 2009, the officials said.
Japanese Self-Defense Forces chief Adm. Takashi Saito indicated he is confident
the GSDF officers will be able to fulfill their duty safely at UNMIS.
''We recognize the security situation in the capital Khartoum is relatively
calm,'' Saito, who heads the Defense Ministry's Joint Staff Office, told a
press conference.
It will be Japan's first dispatch to UNMIS under a 1992 law that allows the SDF
to participate in U.N. peacekeeping operations.
''We hope that this will not only further strengthen Japan's bilateral
relations with Sudan, but also contribute to the region's peace and
stability,'' Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone told reporters Friday morning.
The minister added that he hopes the two officers, who will be unarmed, will
gain experience and understanding of the region through their duties.
Asked if Japan will send troops in the future to take part in the actual
peacekeeping activities in Sudan, Nakasone said that might be possible ''in the
distant future'' but stressed that no plans have been made at the current
stage.
Japan is also participating in two other U.N. peacekeeping operations -- the
U.N. Disengagement Observer Force in the Golan Heights to maintain the
cease-fire between Israel and Syria, and the U.N. Mission in Nepal to monitor
the management of arms and armed personnel under a cease-fire accord between
the Nepalese government and Maoist rebels.
Largely due to the strict limitations on the use of arms by SDF troops under
its pacifist Constitution, Japan has participated relatively little in U.N.
missions. As of June 30, Japan ranked 82nd among 119 countries by number of
personnel in U.N. missions, according to U.N. data.
==Kyodo
The two Japanese officers will engage in logistical and database management at
the head office of UNMIS, which some 10,000 personnel from more than 70
countries have joined, Japanese government officials said.
The term of the first dispatch will last until June 30, 2009, the officials said.
Japanese Self-Defense Forces chief Adm. Takashi Saito indicated he is confident
the GSDF officers will be able to fulfill their duty safely at UNMIS.
''We recognize the security situation in the capital Khartoum is relatively
calm,'' Saito, who heads the Defense Ministry's Joint Staff Office, told a
press conference.
It will be Japan's first dispatch to UNMIS under a 1992 law that allows the SDF
to participate in U.N. peacekeeping operations.
''We hope that this will not only further strengthen Japan's bilateral
relations with Sudan, but also contribute to the region's peace and
stability,'' Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone told reporters Friday morning.
The minister added that he hopes the two officers, who will be unarmed, will
gain experience and understanding of the region through their duties.
Asked if Japan will send troops in the future to take part in the actual
peacekeeping activities in Sudan, Nakasone said that might be possible ''in the
distant future'' but stressed that no plans have been made at the current
stage.
Japan is also participating in two other U.N. peacekeeping operations -- the
U.N. Disengagement Observer Force in the Golan Heights to maintain the
cease-fire between Israel and Syria, and the U.N. Mission in Nepal to monitor
the management of arms and armed personnel under a cease-fire accord between
the Nepalese government and Maoist rebels.
Largely due to the strict limitations on the use of arms by SDF troops under
its pacifist Constitution, Japan has participated relatively little in U.N.
missions. As of June 30, Japan ranked 82nd among 119 countries by number of
personnel in U.N. missions, according to U.N. data.
==Kyodo
