Thursday August 30, 06:02 PMTOKYO (AFP) - Japan's main opposition leader Thursday rebuffed an appeal by visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel to maintain its support for the "war on terror" in Afghanistan, which has been unpopular here.
The opposition seized one house of parliament in elections last month following a raft of domestic scandals. It wants Japan to bring home its ships which refuel US and other warjets and vessels in the Indian Ocean.
"You don't have to follow the unilateral opinion of the United States," main opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa told Merkel in a meeting, as quoted by Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, the opposition's shadow foreign minister.
Merkel has called for as many countries to take part in the "war on terror" as possible.
After meeting on Wednesday with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Merkel said that the international community must "never give in to the threat of terror."
Germany is heavily involved in Afghanistan, where it has contributed some 3,000 troops to the NATO-led International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) and has six Tornado reconnaissance planes helping to spot Taliban hideouts.
Photo: German Chancellor Angela Merkel answers a question during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after their meeting at Abe's official residence in Tokyo, 29 August. Japan's main opposition leader Thursday rebuffed an appeal by Merkel to maintain its support for the "war on terror" in Afghanistan, which has been unpopular here."I am against the current ISAF deployment, although I would support a deployment clearly authorised by a decision of the United Nations," Ozawa told her, according to Yamaguchi.
Yamaguchi quoted Merkel as telling him: "If Japan is to play a greater role in the international community, it has to take greater responsibility."
Japan has been officially pacifist since its defeat in World War II, making all of its deployments overseas controversial.
Some 54.6 percent of Japanese voters oppose extending the Indian Ocean mission, said a survey of 1,000 voters released Thursday by the right-leaning Sankei Shimbun.
Abe, an outspoken conservative, has championed a stronger military role for Japan and revision of the US-imposed 1947 pacifist constitution.
He said after Ozawa's rebuff of Merkel that he would continue to seek cooperation with the main opposition Democratic Party on extending the Indian Ocean mission.
"The international community wants Japan to continue its refuelling activity. We want to have in-depth discussions with the Democratic Party on what the expectations are of Japan," Abe told reporters.
Japan has deployed ships in the Indian Ocean under special legislation first passed after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
The legislation expires on November 1. The opposition could theoretically stall it indefinitely through its control of the upper house.
US Ambassador Thomas Schieffer also earlier tried to persuade Ozawa to drop his objections and warned that relations between the Pacific allies would deteriorate if Japan ended the Indian Ocean mission.
Ozawa has long advocated a greater military role for Japan but is famed as a shrewd political strategist.
The Asahi Shimbun reported that the opposition was preparing to submit a rival bill in parliament that would commit Japan only to humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
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