Kitazawa hints shift in MSDF mission

Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said Tuesday he is considering having Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels refuel warships involved in international antipiracy operations off Somalia after their current support mission in the Indian Ocean ends in January.

"It would be better if we could utilize the techniques and experience of refueling accumulated so far," Kitazawa said when asked what Tokyo plans to do after the MSDF refueling mission ends Jan. 15.

Tokyo is studying an alternate support plan for Afghanistan ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's Nov. 12-13 visit to Japan. It would replace the refueling mission, which supports U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around the conflict-ravaged country.

Kitazawa said refueling vessels operating off Somalia to combat piracy would be "a significant contribution" to the international community. The Defense Ministry will be ready to present the idea in early November, he added.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano, however, appeared cautious about Kitazawa's remark.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said in his first Diet speech Monday that Japan is considering providing farming assistance, vocational training for former combatants and aid to bolster local police forces as alternate support for Afghanistan.

The MSDF has been providing fuel and water to foreign naval vessels engaged in operations to interdict ships linked to terrorism in the Indian Ocean for most of the period since 2001. The administration said it has no plans to extend the mission after the law authorizing it expires in January.

Since March, Japan has provided escort services to commercial ships navigating in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden off Somalia.

At present, 29 countries including the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Australia, Russia, India, China and South Korea engage in antipiracy operations off Somalia, with about 30 vessels usually patrolling the area, according to the Foreign Ministry.

A senior Defense Ministry official said the Diet will need to enact a new law to enable Japanese vessels to provide fuel to foreign ships on antipiracy patrols and that a bill could be submitted to the Diet during the ordinary session that will convene in January.