Japan's lower house passes bills to extend Afghanistan operations
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-10-18 15:53

Japan's lower house has passed bills to extend by one year a logistical support mission in the Indian Ocean for US-led military operations in Afghanistan, an official said.

The bills were immediately sent for approval in the less-powerful upper house, which, like the lower house, is controlled by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's ruling coalition.

Japan originally passed a law two months after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States to enable logistical support for Washington's so-called "war on terror".

Under the law, Japanese supply ships have been refueling naval vessels from the United States, Britain and eight other countries in the Indian Ocean, while Japan has been a key provider of financial aid to Afghanistan.

Tokyo, which extended its logistical support mission in 2003 for two years, was urged by Washington to revise the law to extend its mission again before it expires on November 1.

Koizumi, a close ally of US President George W. Bush, is reported to have been asked by Washington to extend its controversial deployment in Iraq beyond December when the current mission expires.

Koizumi deployed the troops in 2003 and last year extended the mission, Japan's first to a country at war since World War II.

Japanese troops, who are barred by the pacifist 1947 constitution from using force except in the strictest definition of self-defense, have suffered no casualties nor fired a shot in Iraq.