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Japan has told the United States it will end a naval refueling mission [in the Indian Ocean] that supports the war in Afghanistan, a top defence official said...Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who took office last month, has said he wants "more equal" relations with the United States and that he opposes plans to build a new US air base on the southern island of Okinawa...

TOKYO (AFP) — Japan on Thursday ordered home ships engaged on a refuelling mission in the Indian Ocean, halting the close US ally's main role in the "war on terror" due to domestic opposition. Japan, which has been officially pacifist since the end of World War II, has supplied fuel to US and other forces operating in Afghanistan under legislation first passed after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. But the government failed to extend the mission as the main opposition party, which controls one house of parliament, has vowed that Japan should not take part in...

Ozawa in power would send SDF to U.N. force in Afghanistan 10/06/2007 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN Japanese troops would join a U.N. peacekeeping force in Afghanistan if Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) takes over the government, according to a proposal by party leader Ichiro Ozawa. Ozawa made the proposal in the November issue of the monthly opinion journal Sekai (World), due out on Tuesday. The proposal will serve as the basis for the opposition party's counterproposal to a government bill to extend Japan's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean for the U.S.-led war against terror. In the article, the Minshuto chief...

Japan Prime Minister Abe Threatens Resignation If Anti-Terror Refueling Extension Fails (RTTNews) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is staking his political future on Japan's refueling mission for U.S. antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan. Speaking in Sydney on Sunday, Abe said he stands ready to resign if he fails to get Parliament to extend Japan's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean. Abe stressed the extension has become an international commitment he needs to fulfill by all possible means.Abe told reporters "I have no intention of clinging to my duties" as prime minister if the mission is not extended beyond...

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said he may resign if he fails to win parliamentary approval to extend the country's mission in Afghanistan. Mr Abe said he would do the utmost to keep his promise to the US on the mission, but had "no intention of staying" as PM if MPs blocked the move. He was speaking in Sydney, at a summit of Asia Pacific leaders (Apec). The opposition controls the upper house and can stall talks on the mission beyond its expiry date on 1 November. The mission involves Japanese vessels in the Indian Ocean providing refuelling and...

Excerpt - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced a plan on Tuesday to withdraw Japanese ground troops from the southern Iraq city of Samawah, ending their aid and reconstruction mission that started with the dispatch order issued in January 2004. At a meeting of executives of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party before making the announcement, Koizumi said of the Iraq mission, ''A chapter has been finished. I will announce the withdrawal today.'' Koizumi held a news conference on the withdrawal of the Ground Self-Defense Force troops after meeting with leader of the LDP's ruling coalition partner, New Komeito, as well as...

Japan denies Iraq pullout From correspondents in Tokyo 17-06-2006 From: Agence France-Presse   JAPAN denied a newspaper report today that it was considering pulling its troops out of southern Iraq after Britain told Tokyo the multinational forces in the south would soon hand over responsibility for security to the new Iraqi Government. <I>The Yomiuri</I> newspaper reported today that Britain had told Japan the transfer of the security authority for Muthanna Province in southern Iraq would be announced on June 20 and the transfer would be carried out promptly. Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe told reporters he was unaware of...

A STANDOFF between Japanese whalers and environmentalists has escalated with a conservation group claiming the Japanese Government has sent a warship to Antarctic waters to protect its fleet. The Washington-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said it had received a tip-off that a Japanese naval ship had been sent to the region to defend its whalers from protesters. It said it was concerned the warship would try to seize its vessel and those of the two Greenpeace crews shadowing the fleet through the Southern Ocean. "The Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research has made an open accusation of piracy and eco-terrorism against...

Japanese warship 'to guard whalers' A STANDOFF between Japanese whalers and environmentalists has escalated, with a conservation group claiming the Japanese Government has sent a warship to Antarctic waters to protect its fleet. The Washington-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said it had received a tip-off that a Japanese naval ship had been sent to the region to defend its whalers from protesters. The group said it was concerned the warship would try to seize its vessel and those of the two Greenpeace crews shadowing the whaling fleet through the Southern Ocean. "The Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research has made an...

A Japanese soldier waves while aboard an armoured vehicle in Samawa, 270 km (160 miles) south of Baghdad December 27, 2005. Hundreds of Japanese troops who are in Iraq for humanitarian missions have just completed a water facilities project in Iraq's southern city. (REUTERS/Mohameed Ameen)

TOKYO (AP) - Japan's Cabinet on Thursday approved the extension of the country's troop deployment in Iraq for one year, paving the way for the government to prolong Tokyo's largest military mission since World War II. Japan deployed about 600 troops to the southern Iraqi city of Samawah on a humanitarian mission in early 2004 as part of the U.S.-led coalition. The one-year renewal extends the deployment - due to expire next week - to Dec. 14, 2006. The extension, however, does not require the troops to remain in Iraq for the full year, and local media have reported that...

The leader of Japan's main opposition party says that victory in next month's election means Japanese troops, which are being protected by Australian forces, will be pulled out of Iraq. Some 600 Japanese troops are based in the southern Iraqi city of Samawa, which is under the control of Australian soldiers stationed in Al Muthanna province. Katsuya Okada, president of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), railed against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's decision to extend the historic deployment of Japanese forces. "If we win the election, that means Japanese nationals wish to withdraw from Iraq, as we have promised it...

Scotland: Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has said he had no plans to withdraw his troops from Iraq following the fatal bomb blasts in London. Asked by journalists at a Group of Eight summit here if he would consider bringing the troops home, Koizumi replied: "No." The attacks and the Japanese operation in Iraq "should not be directly linked," he said. A group calling itself the Organisation of Al-Qaeda Jihad in Europe claimed yesterday's attacks in London and threatened similar strikes in Denmark, Italy and other "Crusader" states with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Japan, a major US ally in...

TOKYO - After kissing their babies and hugging their wives, 200 Japanese soldiers in combat fatigues lined up at a base in central Japan last weekend under the "Rising Sun" flag for what has become a familiar ritual — the send-off for troops on their way to Iraq. But this batch of soldiers may be among the last. Nearly 18 months into its most ambitious overseas military operation since World War II, Japan is now considering whether to join a growing list of countries pulling out or scaling back their operations in Iraq in the coming months. A pullout by...

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan will pull its troops out of Iraq in December when the term of its current humanitarian mission expires, local media quoted government officials as saying. The government is expected to notify parliament and countries concerned as early as September after studying the situation in Iraq, Kyodo News reported late Wednesday, quoting unnamed government sources. It will then switch its aid mainly to official development assistance, it said. Officials were not available for comment on Thursday, a national holiday. The arrangement is meant to coincide with the scheduled launch of a permanent Iraqi government and the expiration...

Italy’s possible scale-down of its troops in Iraq will have no effect on Japan’s deployment of 550 troops in the country, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said today. “Italy is Italy, Japan is Japan,” Koizumi told reporters when asked if the prospect of a pullout by Rome could lead to a similar move by Tokyo. Japan has been a vocal supporter of the US-led military mission in Iraq and has dispatched 550 troop to the southern city of Samawah on a humanitarian operation in support of reconstruction.

Despite public unease and questions of legitimacy under Japan's constitution, the Japanese cabinet agreed on Thursday the country's troops will stay in Iraq for another year. This comes as Japan puts the final touches on a sweeping overhaul of its defense policy that will give its armed forces a greater role globally and could upset neighbours like China and North Korea. The cabinet endorsed the extension of the deployment of up to 600 Self-Defense Force (SDF) troops in Iraq after the ruling coalition -- the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito -- gave their approval earlier in the day....

TOKYO - Japan's defense chief on Sunday said that Japanese troops could remain in Iraq until late 2005, a year longer than their current mandate. Some 500 Japanese troops are on a humanitarian mission in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah. Their mandate expires Dec. 14, and the government hasn't yet decided if the troops will stay. Asked about a potential pullout, Defense Minister Yoshinori Ono said several factors had to be considered, including whether the troops had fulfilled their mission to help rebuild the country. ``Another factor to consider is that a mission by multinational troops expires next...

SANTIAGO, Chile, Nov 21, 2004 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has implied Japan is prepared to extend the duty of its Self-Defense Forces in Iraq past its December deadline. Koizumi made the suggestion regarding the SDF to U.S. President George W. Bush on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, a meeting of leaders from the 21 nations that border the Pacific Ocean. The weekend meeting was held in Santiago, Chile. "Iraq's reconstruction must succeed," Koizumi reportedly said to Bush. "Japan is ready to continue its cooperation." The SDF deployment is currently scheduled...

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said on Tuesday that Iraqis wanted Japan to keep its troops in the country, amid opposition criticism that the war was discredited after the failure to find weapons of mass destruction. “Helping them with reconstruction efforts, the Self Defence Forces are appreciated by local residents as the troops are carrying out the Japanese people’s goodwill,” Koizumi told lawmakers as parliament convened. “Iraqi Prime Minister (Iyad) Allawi appreciates our country’s humanitarian and reconstruction assistance and asked us to continue our activity as we met last month,” he said, noting that Tokyo would host a two-day donors’ meeting...