Hamada hopes to discuss relaxing weapons rules for antipiracy mission+

TOKYO, Jan. 30 Kyodo - Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada on Friday expressed hope that the ruling coalition parties will consider relaxing the rules governing use of weapons by the Self-Defense Forces, as they discuss a new bill that would allow dispatching the forces abroad for antipiracy operations.

''Taking into account various aspects, including the safety of Self-Defense
Forces personnel, I would like (coalition lawmakers) to discuss (relaxing the
rules) if it is possible,'' Hamada told a press conference.
The defense minister said it had become apparent earlier that there are some
things the Maritime Self-Defense Force cannot do when conducting antipiracy
operations under the maritime police action provision of the SDF law.
It is natural, therefore, that the lawmakers explore every possibility in
shaping the bill if they are to resolve the shortcomings in the existing law,
he said.
MSDF vessels are expected to be deployed to waters off the coast of Somalia
around March to protect Japanese-related commercial ships from pirates.
But because they would be sent under the pretext of maritime policing in the
absence of an antipiracy law, weapons can only be used in limited
circumstances, such as for self-defense, in accordance with a law governing
police conduct.
The government thus plans to submit a bill to parliament in early March that,
if enacted into law, would give firm legal footing to the antipiracy operations
in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia.
Maritime police action is undertaken by the SDF when situations exceed the
capacity of the Japan Coast Guard in protecting Japanese lives and property. In
principle, it presumes the safeguarding of Japanese coastlines.
Meanwhile, a lawmaker of the New Komeito party, the junior ruling coalition
partner of the Liberal Democratic Party, who is working on the new bill,
emphasized Friday that the rules on using weapons are unlikely to be eased to
the extent that they would authorize the SDF to hunt down pirates.
''We must make it our common ground that (Japan will engage in) deterrence and
regulation,'' Shigeki Sato said at a meeting of the antipiracy project team of
the ruling parties. He co-chairs the panel.
''We don't have to go so far as to envision mop-up operations, suppression or
control in taking antipiracy measures this time. Thinking along this line, I
believe we would naturally be able to envision limits on the use of weapons,''
he added.
At the meeting, the ruling parties agreed on the basic principles of the bill,
including the need to consider the limits on using weapons for antipiracy
measures, lawmakers on the panel said.
Specifically, they decided to consider ''the extent of using weapons and for
what purpose,'' so that the SDF can take ''both realistic and effective
measures'' against heavily armed pirates, according to the text of the
agreement.
The government will work on drafting a bill based on the two parties' basic
principles, the lawmakers said.
The use of weapons overseas is a sensitive issue in Japan due to the
limitations in the country's war-renouncing Constitution. Opposition parties
are opposed to relaxing the rules governing the use of weapons in antipiracy
operations.
==Kyodo
2009-01-30 23:00:24