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| Japan backs Afghan naval mission | Japan backs Afghan naval mission |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Japan's lower house of parliament has voted to extend a controversial mission backing US operations in Afghanistan. | Japan's lower house of parliament has voted to extend a controversial mission backing US operations in Afghanistan. |
| Prime Minister Taro Aso had campaigned to keep the mission going, saying Japan should contribute to global security. | Prime Minister Taro Aso had campaigned to keep the mission going, saying Japan should contribute to global security. |
| But many opposition members are against the proposal, saying it breaches the country's pacifist constitution. | But many opposition members are against the proposal, saying it breaches the country's pacifist constitution. |
| The bill is likely to be rejected in the opposition-controlled upper house, before the more powerful lower house passes it into law. | The bill is likely to be rejected in the opposition-controlled upper house, before the more powerful lower house passes it into law. |
| Emotive issue | |
| Japan's constitution forbids it from fighting other nations, but in recent years the government has tried to revise the rules to allow for a more robust defence policy. | |
| But the issue is an emotive one, and many MPs have argued that Japan should not be involved in military operations at all, however tangentially. | |
| Japan has refuelled coalition warships in the Indian Ocean for several years, but the mission was temporarily halted last November because the opposition-dominated upper house refused to vote on the issue. | |
| This time round, though, it has other priorities in mind. | |
| Correspondents say that the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) hopes that by letting the bill pass, there is now no excuse for Mr Aso to postpone calling a snap general election. |