Two destroyers will set sail for the world's most dangerous waters near the Gulf of Aden where US, European and Chinese vessels have already been sent to fend off pirates who attacked more than 100 ships last year.

The mission has divided opinion in Japan, where under the post-World War II pacifist constitution, troops in international disputes can only use force for self defence and to protect Japanese nationals.

Prime Minister Taro Aso's conservative Liberal Democratic Party this week agreed legislation to pave the way for the mission and to give its roughly 400-strong crew an expanded mandate on when and how to use force.

The proposal would allow Japanese forces to open fire on pirate vessels that do not obey repeated orders to stop. It would also allow them for the first time to protect non-Japanese vessels, citizens and cargo from pirates.

The government is expected to approve the bill and submit it to parliament Friday, the same day Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada plans to order the dispatch of the destroyers, the Kyodo news agency and other media reported.

Last month about 240 officers took part in a one-day drill off southern Hiroshima prefecture where a destroyer repelled a mock pirate ship from accosting a Japanese commercial vessel and arrested the pretend pirates.

Recent newspaper polls have shown growing public support for the mission.

A survey this week by the Yomiuri Shimbun showed 61 percent of respondents were in favour of the deployment and 27 percent against. A poll by the Mainichi daily last month found 47 percent support and 42 percent opposition.

The joint navy-coastguard mission would follow Japan's deployment of ground and air troops to Iraq from 2003 to 2008, and of peacekeepers to UN-led missions in Cambodia, Mozambique, the Golan Heights and East Timor, among other places.

The planned mission has worried some pacifists, who say it violates Japan's constitution, while others see it as a policing, not military, issue.

"So far, Japan has been enjoying a free ride and had other countries protect Japanese ships," said Hidekazu Kawai, emeritus professor at Gakushuin University.

"So many Japanese ships travel there. It would not be natural for Japan not to send forces to protect civilian ships."

Some 2,000 Japanese ships sail through Somali waters to cross the Suez canal each year and the Asian giant's shipping industry has voiced alarm over the cost incurred should vessels have to opt for a safer but longer route.

The spate of pirate attacks -- including the hijacking of a Panama-flagged Japanese-owned ship late last year -- have led some shipping companies to avoid the Suez Canal and, at greater cost, sail around Africa instead.

Japan's record of military aggression during World War II unnerves some people contemplating the prospect of an expanded military role for the nation, said Kawai, adding that "this case may give a new opportunity for people to ponder the role of Japanese troops".

The plan has worried Japanese peace activists, including Yukio Nishioka in western Hiroshima prefecture, where the two destroyers are docked, who said the naval deployment would threaten Japan's pacifist policies.

"Anti-pirate activities are policing duties of the coastguard," he told AFP. "We are extremely concerned about the government's decision to dispatch Self Defense Forces. It is premature.

"There are many other ways to cooperate with the international community to fight piracy, such as giving civilian aid and coordinating coastguard operations with regional countries," he said.

Share This Article With Planet Earth

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Related Links
21st Century Pirates

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News