Japan to resume antiterror refueling mission under new law

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said Friday he plans to have Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels head to the Indian Ocean by the end of January for resumption of their refueling mission.
"To resume the refueling activities as soon as possible, the government will decide on an implementation plan in the middle of next week," Fukuda said in a statement issued after the Diet enacted a law to resume the refueling mission in support of U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan.
Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba has already issued an order to the MSDF to prepare for the resumption of the mission.
The House of Representatives, the more powerful lower chamber in the bicameral Diet, passed the bill in a second vote Friday afternoon with a two-thirds majority vote by the ruling bloc of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party.
The special legislative process in the lower house in line with a constitutional provision, the first in 57 years, follows rejection of the bill by the opposition-controlled House of Councillors with a 133-106 vote in a plenary session in the morning. The lower house has already cleared the bill once, on Nov 13.
Restarting the mission is a key policy objective for Fukuda, who assumed office last September. The United States, Japan's main ally, and other countries including Britain and Pakistan, have repeatedly called on Tokyo to resume the mission.
Fukuda expressed his relief following the enactment of the bill, telling reporters, "It took a long time."
The bill cleared the 480-seat lower house in a 340-133 vote. All the 473 ballots cast were valid. Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa, Fukuda's archrival, left the chamber before voting began.
Japan suspended the mission in November when a special law authorizing it expired in the face of resistance from the DPJ-led opposition camp.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer welcomed the enactment, saying in his statement, "The U.S. appreciates the fact that the Japanese government has taken this important step in support of the international community's efforts to create a stable and democratic Afghanistan."
"Terrorism is the bane of our time. By passing this legislation, Japan has demonstrated its willingness to stand with those who are trying to create a safer, more tolerant world," it noted.
It was the first time since 1951 that a bill was enacted by a second vote in the lower house after being rejected by the upper chamber.
A bill put to a second vote can become law if it is passed by a two-thirds majority vote by its members present in the lower house in line with the Constitution. The LDP and New Komeito hold a combined two-thirds majority in the chamber.
The Maritime Staff Office plans to dispatch liaison officers to Bahrain to coordinate the resumption of the mission with counterparts from countries participating in the operations, government officials said.
Also earlier Friday, the upper house passed a bill with a 120-118 vote featuring assistance to Afghanistan which the DPJ presented as a counterproposal to the refueling bill and carried over to the lower house.
LDP Secretary General Bummei Ibuki told a press conference the lower house should take up the DPJ's bill for deliberations in the upcoming ordinary parliamentary session starting next Friday, rather than scrapping it in the current session through next Tuesday.
Unlike the expired special law, the new law limits the MSDF's supply operations for foreign vessels to the provision of oil and water, and is valid for one year. It also does not require parliamentary approval for the mission.
The officials also said the Japanese government will ensure that the oil supplied in the mission will only be used for antiterrorism operations related to Afghanistan and will not be diverted for other purposes such as the U.S.-led operations in Iraq.
Japan terminated the refueling mission in November after Fukuda's government failed to win parliamentary approval for the special law to be extended, following a crushing defeat for the ruling camp in the upper house election in July.