Defense minister tells SDF to ready for antipiracy mission off Somalia+

TOKYO, Jan. 28 Kyodo - Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told the Self-Defense Forces on Wednesday to prepare for deployment to waters off the coast of Somalia to protect Japanese and Japan-linked commercial ships from pirates.

The dispatch of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, expected to take place in
March at the earliest following training and other preparations, would be the
first SDF deployment overseas under a maritime police action provision of the
SDF law.
Once the preparations are complete, the defense minister will issue an order
for the dispatch with Prime Minister Taro Aso's approval, with the actual
operations in the far-off waters likely to begin in late March or later.
''The pirates in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia pose threats to
Japan and the international community and are an issue that should be dealt
with swiftly,'' Hamada told senior SDF officers at the Defense Ministry. ''I
therefore plan to issue an order for the maritime police action as an
immediate, emergency measure.''
Hamada emphasized that a new law is necessary to authorize the SDF to be
deployed overseas specifically for antipiracy purposes, saying the dispatch
would be ''of course an emergency measure premised on (establishing) a general
law.''
Given the minister's move, the Defense Ministry has begun considering
dispatching MSDF P-3C patrol aircraft as well as two helicopter-carrying
destroyers for the operations, ministry sources said.
Deployment of P-3C patrol aircraft is expected to provide support to MSDF
destroyers escorting Japan-linked ships by watching out for pirates from the
sky, the sources said. Pirate movements observed by the craft would be relayed
to foreign navies operating in the region.
The aircraft proposal is believed to reflect a desire among government
officials to avert criticism for not being able to protect ships that have
little to do with Japan under the existing law.
It also plans to send a fact-finding mission to Djibouti and other countries
near Somalia in early February to explore the possibilities of establishing an
operational base somewhere in the region, they said.
Djibouti, which borders northwestern Somalia, is seen as a candidate country to
host a base for the aircraft. The ministry's fact-finding mission may also
visit Yemen and Oman to look for a supply base for MSDF vessels, the sources
said.
Prior to the event, the government held a national security council meeting to
discuss rampant piracy off Somalia and Japan's response to it. Both Aso and
Hamada took part in the meeting.
''After the meeting, the prime minister told (Hamada) to officially begin
preparations,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told a news conference.
During the preparations, the Defense Ministry will devise rules concerning use
of weapons, conduct training of crew members and prepare communications
equipment to link MSDF vessels with command posts during the mission, ministry
officials said.
The ministry will also begin work on obtaining agreement from a country in the
region to host a supply base for MSDF vessels, they said.
Maritime police action is undertaken principally in a situation in which the
Japan Coast Guard lacks the capacity to protect Japanese lives and property at
sea. But such a provision has never been invoked to deal with pirates.
Due also to operational restrictions, Defense Minister Hamada has been wary of
a deployment under the provision and has called for a new law to authorize the
SDF to engage in antipiracy operations overseas and deal with pirates
effectively.
Under the provision, the MSDF will be able to protect only Japan-related
vessels -- Japanese-registered ships and foreign vessels with Japanese
nationals or shipments aboard.
The MSDF will also be able to use weapons only in limited circumstances, such
as for self-defense, because it must operate in accordance with the execution
of the police duties law.
Aso told reporters Tuesday evening that the government will submit a bill to
parliament around March to enable the MSDF to carry out its mission under new
terms, including the ability to protect any ships, regardless of their Japanese
connections.
The terms may also impose less stringent rules on the use of weapons to deal
with pirates, who are often armed with such weapons as rockets and automatic
rifles, according to ruling coalition sources.
But it remains unclear whether the bill would be able to pass smoothly through
the Diet, given the possible opposition to relaxing such rules from the
opposition parties and even some members of the New Komeito party, the junior
coalition partner of Aso's Liberal Democratic Party.
''We need to craft (the bill) in a way that can elicit enough understanding
from the (main opposition) Democratic Party of Japan and the opposition bloc
because this is an issue linked to national interests,'' said Kawamura, the top
government spokesman.
Aso has been a strong advocate of an MSDF dispatch under the maritime police
action provision, albeit as a temporary measure, saying many Japan-related
ships navigate the waters and the MSDF should therefore be deployed swiftly.
More than a dozen countries, including the United States, European Union
nations and China, have sent naval ships to waters off Somalia, including the
Gulf of Aden, where piracy incidents have surged in the past year.
==Kyodo
2009-01-28 22: