Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suggested on Sunday in Sydney that he would resign if he fails to get parliament to extend Japan's antiterrorism refueling mission in the Indian Ocean, Japanese media said.

 

Abe said that the extension of the refueling mission for US-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan has become an "international commitment" he needs to fulfill, according to Kyodo News and local TV.

 

"I have no intention of clinging to my duties" as prime minister if the mission is not prolonged after its legal deadline on Nov. 1, the premier told a press conference after the weekend summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Sydney.

 

Abe has been under the pressure to quit the post among a series of scandals involving his Cabinet ministers earlier this year, especially after his party's failure to maintain majority in the upper house election in July. The Cabinet reshuffle he then led late last month apparently hasn't improved the situation much, with a farm minister resigned in less a week after assuming post.

 

On Monday, the ruling bloc and oppositions led by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) will debate the issue on antiterrorism law extension in an extraordinary Diet session.

 

The DPJ, who now has majority votes in the House of Councilors, has repeated its opposition to prolonging the law which authorizes the dispatch of Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) vessels to provide refueling support for the antiterrorism operations. DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa said that the US-led operations have no UN mandate.

 

The special antiterrorism law was originally enacted in October 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks on the US. The two-year law has been extended three times to continue the MSDF deployment in the Indian Ocean.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 10, 2007)