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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, November 30, 2001

Japan's Diet Formally Authorizes SDF Deployment

Japan's Diet (parliament) on Friday formally authorized Japanese government over dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to the Indian Ocean under a new anti-terrorism law to provide logistical support to the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan.


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Japan's Diet (parliament) on Friday formally authorized Japanese government over dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to the Indian Ocean under a new anti-terrorism law to provide logistical support to the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan.

The legal procedure was completed when Japan's House of Councilors gave the green light in a plenary-session vote Friday morning, following the approval by the House of Representatives Tuesday.

With the Diet action, the SDF now has the formal authorization to engage in an overseas mission under wartime conditions for the first time since it was set up in 1954.

Under the antiterrorism law, enacted October 29, the Diet has the power to rescind the government's deployment order and recall the warships already dispatched.

The new law stipulates that the government must seek Diet approval of a dispatch of forces within 20 days after the dispatch order.

Three Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) ships departed last Sunday for the Indian Ocean while three other warships were sent there earlier this month for intelligence gathering.

Under the Diet authorization provision, the SDF's operation would be restricted primarily to delivering supplies to U.S. warships operating in the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf.

The MSDF ships operating in the area are also authorized to take part in search and rescue operations for military personnel of U.S.-led forces.




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