Japan extends refueling mission in Indian Ocean+

TOKYO, July 3 Kyodo -
Japan on Friday extended its refueling mission in the Indian Ocean for another
half year beyond its scheduled expiration on July 15 under a temporary law on
antiterrorism campaigns.

The Cabinet endorsed a revision to the basic plan for the Maritime Self-Defense
Force mission to extend until Jan. 15 the refueling mission in support of
U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and near Afghanistan.
''The Defense Ministry will continue to do its best to eradicate international
terrorism now that the refueling assistance activities by the MSDF were
extended,'' Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told a news conference after the
extension was approved at a Cabinet meeting.
The government kept other parts of the basic plan intact, including the size of
the operations and dispatch of MSDF vessels to non-combat areas such as the
Indian Ocean including the Persian Gulf.
Under the revised plan, the MSDF deploys a supply ship and a destroyer to
provide fuel and water to foreign naval vessels participating in U.S.-led
efforts to interdict ships linked to terrorism in the region.
The supply ship has provided roughly 2.67 million liters of fuel to warships
from Britain, France, Germany, Pakistan and the United States on 16 occasions
over three months through the end of May, according to the ministry's Joint
Staff Office.
The supply ship has also been refueling MSDF destroyers involved in antipiracy
operations in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia.
==Kyodo