ID :
84469
Wed, 10/14/2009 - 13:17
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/84469
The shortlink copeid
Defense chief reaffirms end of Japan's refueling mission in Jan.+
TOKYO, Oct. 13 Kyodo - Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa reaffirmed Tuesday that Japan will terminate its refueling mission in the Indian Ocean in January when the law authorizing it expires, echoing Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada's view expressed on Monday
in Islamabad.
The defense minister told a press conference that the Maritime Self-Defense
Force fleet deployed for the refueling mission ''will withdraw based on the
law'' next January.
''As the foreign minister said, we have no plans to submit a new bill in the
upcoming extra Diet session to redeploy'' the MSDF personnel for the
operations, he said.
''We share Foreign Minister Okada's idea and will discuss what kinds of
contribution we can make in the future,'' Kitazawa said, referring to Japan's
alternative support plan for Afghanistan.
On Monday, Okada said in the Pakistani capital, ''A plan to deliberate a bill
for an extension is not being discussed. Submitting it requires various
arrangements and the reality is that it is difficult.''
''It has been confirmed that Afghanistan does not feel so strongly about
(Japan's) refueling support,'' Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told reporters in
the evening in connection with Okada's visit to the country.
He noted that the Afghan government did not ask him to continue that type of
support either when the new Japanese leader visited the country before assuming
office in mid-September.
The Japanese government needs to think about how the country can ''stabilize
Afghanistan economically and politically,'' Hatoyama said, citing vocational
training among other steps that could meet the needs of the people in
Afghanistan.
At a press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi
Hirano said Okada's comments carry ''weight'' and the government will take them
into consideration in reaching a final decision.
Hirano, the government's top spokesman, said he understands that Okada's trip
to Afghanistan and Pakistan this past weekend will help Japan to make a ''final
political decision'' on what would be best for the region.
The government led by Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan has suggested it
will offer civilian support to help reconstruct conflict-ravaged Afghanistan,
but it has yet to make clear what should be provided instead of or along with
the refueling mission.
''We believe that agricultural reconstruction and civilian support for local
people would lead to a fundamental solution for what constitutes the basis of
terrorism,'' Hirano said.
He said the government has a strong desire to work out ''some concrete,
comprehensive idea'' on the issue by the time U.S. President Barack Obama
visits Japan on Nov. 12-13.
Also speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Tomoko Abe, a policy chief of
the Social Democratic Party, who has just returned from a five-day trip to
Afghanistan, underscored the need for Japan to take a leadership role in
establishing a table for peace talks between the Afghan government and the
Taliban.
In the fight against terrorism, ''it is important to bring (the insurgents)
into the political process'' and a table for a cease-fire, Abe said after
looking back on her trip in which she said she had met several senior
government officials and visited schools, hospitals and other sites to assess
what is most needed in the country.
Abe also said no government official she had met with demanded that Japan's
refueling mission be continued.
Ryoichi Hattori, another lawmaker of the SDP, one of the DPJ's coalition
partners, also said Japan should seek ''original ways to help rebuild
Afghanistan,'' which is facing difficulties securing clean water and adequate
electricity as well as other infrastructure.
Both Hatoyama and Okada have repeatedly said Tokyo will not ''simply'' extend
the refueling mission, remarks that have raised speculation that the government
may leave room for the possibility of continuing the mission.
Japan has been engaged in the refueling mission in support of U.S.-led
antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan for most of the period since
the end of 2001.
But the DPJ, which opposes the mission, plans a policy change, as it took the
reins of government in mid-September following a landslide victory in the
August election for the House of Representatives, wresting power from the
long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party.
The monthlong extraordinary Diet session is set to commence Oct. 26.
==Kyodo
2009-10-13 23:41:16
in Islamabad.
The defense minister told a press conference that the Maritime Self-Defense
Force fleet deployed for the refueling mission ''will withdraw based on the
law'' next January.
''As the foreign minister said, we have no plans to submit a new bill in the
upcoming extra Diet session to redeploy'' the MSDF personnel for the
operations, he said.
''We share Foreign Minister Okada's idea and will discuss what kinds of
contribution we can make in the future,'' Kitazawa said, referring to Japan's
alternative support plan for Afghanistan.
On Monday, Okada said in the Pakistani capital, ''A plan to deliberate a bill
for an extension is not being discussed. Submitting it requires various
arrangements and the reality is that it is difficult.''
''It has been confirmed that Afghanistan does not feel so strongly about
(Japan's) refueling support,'' Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told reporters in
the evening in connection with Okada's visit to the country.
He noted that the Afghan government did not ask him to continue that type of
support either when the new Japanese leader visited the country before assuming
office in mid-September.
The Japanese government needs to think about how the country can ''stabilize
Afghanistan economically and politically,'' Hatoyama said, citing vocational
training among other steps that could meet the needs of the people in
Afghanistan.
At a press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi
Hirano said Okada's comments carry ''weight'' and the government will take them
into consideration in reaching a final decision.
Hirano, the government's top spokesman, said he understands that Okada's trip
to Afghanistan and Pakistan this past weekend will help Japan to make a ''final
political decision'' on what would be best for the region.
The government led by Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan has suggested it
will offer civilian support to help reconstruct conflict-ravaged Afghanistan,
but it has yet to make clear what should be provided instead of or along with
the refueling mission.
''We believe that agricultural reconstruction and civilian support for local
people would lead to a fundamental solution for what constitutes the basis of
terrorism,'' Hirano said.
He said the government has a strong desire to work out ''some concrete,
comprehensive idea'' on the issue by the time U.S. President Barack Obama
visits Japan on Nov. 12-13.
Also speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Tomoko Abe, a policy chief of
the Social Democratic Party, who has just returned from a five-day trip to
Afghanistan, underscored the need for Japan to take a leadership role in
establishing a table for peace talks between the Afghan government and the
Taliban.
In the fight against terrorism, ''it is important to bring (the insurgents)
into the political process'' and a table for a cease-fire, Abe said after
looking back on her trip in which she said she had met several senior
government officials and visited schools, hospitals and other sites to assess
what is most needed in the country.
Abe also said no government official she had met with demanded that Japan's
refueling mission be continued.
Ryoichi Hattori, another lawmaker of the SDP, one of the DPJ's coalition
partners, also said Japan should seek ''original ways to help rebuild
Afghanistan,'' which is facing difficulties securing clean water and adequate
electricity as well as other infrastructure.
Both Hatoyama and Okada have repeatedly said Tokyo will not ''simply'' extend
the refueling mission, remarks that have raised speculation that the government
may leave room for the possibility of continuing the mission.
Japan has been engaged in the refueling mission in support of U.S.-led
antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan for most of the period since
the end of 2001.
But the DPJ, which opposes the mission, plans a policy change, as it took the
reins of government in mid-September following a landslide victory in the
August election for the House of Representatives, wresting power from the
long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party.
The monthlong extraordinary Diet session is set to commence Oct. 26.
==Kyodo
2009-10-13 23:41:16
