Japan cabinet for extending naval support to US

Tokyo, Oct 6: Japan's cabinet today approved a bill to extend for another year a naval mission on the Indian Ocean that provides rear-guard support for US military operations in Afghanistan.

The decision paves the way for the extension to be enacted by parliament in its current session, which runs until December. 15. The current legislation expires on November. 1.

The law, which first came into effect in November 2001 despite widespread opposition, enabled Japan to send its navy to the area mainly to help refuel ships, in the first dispatch of its forces to a war situation since World War Two.

The legislation also set the stage for a separate, more controversial law allowing the deployment of Japanese troops to Iraq on a reconstruction mission.

Shinzo Abe, who became prime minister last week, has promised to tighten ties with the United States, a key security ally, and work towards rewriting Japan's pacifist constitution.

Reuters