TOKYO, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Japan Friday sought to remove U.S. concerns about its anti-terrorism role amid the ruling LDP coalition's recent election defeat.
In talks with visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of States John Negroponte, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said his country's policy of extending oil-refueling support for anti-terrorism operations in the Indian Ocean has not changed despite the loss of the coalition's majority in the upper house of Parliament, Kyodo news service reported.
The U.S. worry is that a special law relating to the issue may not be extended past its Nov. 1 expiration in the new political climate. The law, in force since the Sept. 11, 2001, allows Japan to send its Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels to the Indian Ocean to provide fuel to multinational forces fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Shiozaki said he told Negroponte that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe administration's policy remains unchanged "and that we will work toward gaining the opposition's understanding because the premier sees the special anti-terrorism law as the basis for Japan's playing a role and fulfilling the world's expectations," the reprot said.
