By KUNA
Tokyo : Japan’s parliament enacted Friday a legislation authorizing its Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) to resume refueling operations in the Indian Ocean, setting to resume logistical support for the US-led anti-terrorism campaign in and around Afghanistan as early as mid-February after a three-month hiatus.
Later in the day, Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba is expected to issue an order to the MSDF to prepare for the dispatch of ships to the region.
The opposition-controlled upper house voted down the new anti-terror bill in the morning, but the more powerful 480-member lower chamber, which is controlled by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda’s ruling coalition, overruled the legislation shortly thereafter with a two-thirds majority.
The government will ensure that the refueling mission will only be limited for anti-terrorism operations related to Afghanistan and it plans to require pledges from recipient nations declaring they will never use the fuel for any other purposes such as the US-led operations in Iraq.
Japan’s naval mission has been suspended since the legislation expired November 1 after the government failed to win parliamentary approval for the special law to be extended, following a defeat for the ruling camp in the upper house election in July.
The refueling mission started in December 2001 after the September 11 terror attacks on the US. The two-year legislation was extended for another two years in 2003 and one year in 2005. Japan had provided about 490,000 kl of fuel in 794 occasions to vessels from 11 countries, including the US, France, Britain and Pakistan.