IHT : Japan ends Indian Ocean mission amid parliamentary deadlock

Japan ends Indian Ocean mission amid parliamentary deadlock

The Associated Press | October 31, 2007

TOKYO: Japan's defense minister ordered ships supporting U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan to return home Thursday after opposition lawmakers refused to support an extension of the mission, saying it violated the country's pacifist Constitution.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda — a strong supporter of Japan's six-year-old mission — vowed to pass legislation that would allow Japan to resume a more limited role to fight terrorism in the region.

Japan, America's top ally in Asia, has refueled coalition warships in the Indian Ocean since 2001, but opposition parties, bolstered by recent election wins, effectively scuttled the mission by raising concerns it was too broad and possibly violated the Constitution.

Legislation had been passed repeatedly to renew the mission, but the latest extension expired Thursday amid a stalemate in Parliament. Japan refueled its final ship on Monday.

The two ships in the mission — a destroyer and a refueler, with 340 troops aboard — were to begin heading for Japan later Thursday. They were expected to take about three weeks to return, navy spokesman Kozo Okuda said.
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Though not expected to seriously affect the U.S.-led coalition's Afghanistan operations, the failure to extend the mission was seen as a major defeat for Fukuda, who took office just over a month ago after his party suffered a setback in parliamentary elections and his predecessor, Shinzo Abe, suddenly resigned.

Officials vowed that Tokyo would soon be able to resume the mission, though opposition leaders were not likely to back down.

"In order to fulfill our responsibility for international efforts toward eradicating terrorism, we do need to continue our refueling mission," Fukuda said in a statement. "The government will do all it can to pass the special bill for the refueling mission so we can restart our mission as soon as possible."

On Tuesday, Fukuda and main opposition party leader Ichiro Ozawa failed to agree on an extension of the mission.

Ozawa's Democratic Party of Japan opposes the mission because it does not have the specific mandate of the United Nations. Critics also say it violates the country's U.S.-drafted Constitution, which forbids Japan from engaging in warfare overseas.

Fukuda has argued that pulling out of the mission would leave Japan sidelined in the fight against global terrorism.

In an effort to placate the opposition, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is proposing narrowing the mission to refueling ships engaged in anti-terror patrols in the Indian Ocean. Until now, the mission also supported U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan.

The LDP — which controls the more powerful lower chamber of Japan's parliament, or Diet — could muscle through approval of a more limited mission, allowing Japanese ships to eventually return.

During its six-year mission, Japan provided about 480,000 kiloliters (126 million gallons) of fuel to coalition warships in the Indian Ocean, including those from the U.S., Britain and Pakistan, according to the Defense Ministry.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer and envoys from coalition countries met with Japanese lawmakers on Wednesday and stressed the importance of Tokyo's refueling mission, however U.S. Defense Department Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters earlier in the week that the halt would not have "any operational impact whatsoever."

Chief Cabinet spokesman Nobutaka Machimura said Japan would continue to play a major role in assisting Afghanistan financially to fight terrorists and improve security.

But analysts said the political disarray in Tokyo could have repercussions with the U.S. alliance.

"I think ending the mission would give the impression to the U.S. that Japan is not fulfilling its responsibility," said Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a political scientist at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo.

Fukuda is to visit the United States later this month.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said his country is concerned about the mission ending, and hoped for a "resumption of Japan's contribution in this area."