Agence France-Presse,
TOKYO (AFP): Japan will Thursday order its ships supporting US-led forces in Afghanistan to return home after failing to strike a deal on extending its mission, chief government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura said.
Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba “will make an order for the withdrawal of forces today at 3:00 pm” (0600 GMT), Machimura told a news conference.
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 allowing participation in the “war on terror.”
That legislation expires Thursday, and could not be extended because the opposition, which controls one house of parliament, says Japan should not take part in “American wars.”
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda will issue a statement to be relayed to foreign embassies in Tokyo explaining the situation and stressing that he wants to resume the mission, Machimura said.
“As a government we will make maximum efforts for the activity to resume under new anti-terror legislation in both the lower and upper houses,” Machimura said.
The opposition in July won control of the upper house of parliament on a backlash over a raft of scandals under the government of then prime minister Shinzo Abe.
Abe stepped in September in part due to the opposition's refusal to support an extension of the Indian Ocean mission.
While the lower house is more powerful than the upper house, the opposition can use its newfound power to stall legislation.
Fukuda argues that Japan, as the world's second largest economy, has to play a greater role in ensuring global security.
