Senior Japan MPs tone down nuclear debate comments

TOKYO, Nov 8 (Reuters) Two senior Japanese ruling party politicians at the centre of a controversy over nuclear arms toned down their remarks today as opposition parties threatened to seek the ouster of one from a key cabinet post.

Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Shoichi Nakagawa said he would stop talking about the need for Japan to discuss whether it should acquire nuclear weapons, a topic that has stirred controversy in the only country to have suffered nuclear attacks.

Nakagawa, who first called for a debate on the issue after North Korea conducted a nuclear test on Oct 9, said he now wanted to assess US policy after its midterm elections and the outcome of Pyongyang's decision to return to the six-party talks on ending its nuclear programmes.

''The situation is changing, though it's not clear where things are headed,'' Nakagawa said at a business leaders' event.

''So today I'm not making the same comments I've made recently. It's important to monitor developments over the next two to three weeks,'' he said.

His comments came amid media reports that four opposition parties would soon call for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to dismiss Foreign Minister Taro Aso, who has also said Japan should not rule out debate over nuclear weapons.

Aso, asked about the controversy in parliament on Wednesday, only stated the government's official stance that Japan would stick to its three non-nuclear principles of not possessing, producing or bringing in nuclear weapons.

The Japanese public has been highly sensitive to the nuclear issue because of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, and even the suggestion of a debate about having nuclear weapons has created controversy.

Abe has said repeatedly that Japan would stick to its decades-old ban on nuclear weapons, denying that the government would even discuss the topic.

Abe said in parliament that Aso was not talking about the possibility of possessing nuclear weapons but was referring to debating such issues as nuclear deterrence.

''Debate about nuclear deterrence and debate about nuclear armament are different things,'' Abe said in a debate with the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party.

''What's important is to adhere to the three non-nuclear principles as a policy. In that sense, we are in agreement,'' Abe said, referring to Aso's remarks.

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