Japan decides on $5 bil. aid to Afghanistan ahead of Obama's visit+

TOKYO, Nov. 10 Kyodo -
Japan decided Tuesday to extend up to $5 billion, or about 450 billion yen, in
civilian aid to Afghanistan, in hopes of improving its relations with the
United States ahead of Friday's visit to Japan by U.S. President Barack Obama
who views the conflict-torn country as a major issue for his administration.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is set to present the aid package, which
covers five years from 2009, to Obama during their scheduled summit in Tokyo on
Friday evening.
Since taking office in mid-September, the government led by Hatoyama's
Democratic Party of Japan had been looking for steps it can take to replace its
current refueling mission in support of the U.S.-led antiterrorism operations
in and around Afghanistan.
Hatoyama raised questions over the effectiveness of the refueling mission in
terms of combating terrorism, telling reporters in the evening, ''I know Japan
has done quite good work in supporting Afghanistan, but terrorism has not been
eliminated.''
''Japan's (civilian) support should be strengthened in order to eradicate the
roots of terrorism,'' he said.
In their telephone talks held later in the evening, Afghan President Hamid
Karzai thanked the Japanese premier for the fresh aid and promised to implement
the steps effectively and work hard to establish a stable government and combat
corruption, according to Japanese officials.
''The two sides agreed to work on an efficient mechanism to spend Japan's aid
so that this new aid is spent efficiently,'' Karzai's office said in a
statement issued in Kabul.
Japan plans to end the refueling mission by Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels
as a law authorizing their dispatch to the Indian Ocean is set to expire in
January despite calls from some Washington officials that the mission should be
continued.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano, the government's top spokesman, said
Japan has yet to make a final decision on whether to end the mission. But since
the government has not submitted any bills to extend the operations during the
current Diet session, the MSDF vessels will have to withdraw from the Indian
Ocean next January.
Analysts say Washington's apparent acceptance of the SDF pullout plan signals
its hope that Tokyo will instead provide large-scale financial support for
Afghan reconstruction at a time when Washington is struggling with swelling
costs related to its antiterrorism operations in the country.
U.S. Defense Secretary Roberts Gates, during his visit to Japan in late
October, suggested Tokyo could financially contribute to the U.S. war in
Afghanistan, saying, ''The real need is for financial support for the expansion
and sustainment of the Afghan national army and the Afghan national police.''
Japan's fresh aid package focuses on civilian aid such as vocational training
for former Taliban soldiers and training for police officers to ensure security
in Afghanistan. It also includes farming development, building of
infrastructure, education support and health care to help Afghanistan achieve
sustainable development.
The Japan-U.S. relationship has been fraying amid a row over where to relocate
the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, as
the DPJ has sought to review a 2006 Japan-U.S. accord to transfer the facility
to another Okinawa city.
But Hatoyama said Monday the Futemma issue is unlikely to be a major theme in
his upcoming talks with Obama.
On Tuesday morning, Hatoyama and Obama talked on the phone and agreed to
discuss global warming and the Afghan issue, among other things, in their
meeting in Tokyo, according to Hirano.
In its new aid package, Japan plans to offer the civilian support steps through
the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the U.N. Development Program,
and make financial contributions to sponsor programs for paid vocational
training and job creation for former Taliban soldiers.
Japan will ''provide maximum support'' to help people in Afghanistan improve
their capacity for ensuring security and train their police officers in
Indonesia and other countries, the government said in a statement.
In the area of farming, Tokyo plans to help develop farmlands through the
construction of water systems and offer farming training not only in the
metropolitan area but also in the grain growing region in northeastern
Afghanistan.
It will also pay about half the wages for all of the country's 80,000 police
officers.
In their telephone conversations, Hatoyama congratulated Karzai on his
reelection and conveyed his hope that the Afghan people would unite and form
the basis for nation building under the Karzai's direction and that the
president would work vigorously in improving security and achieving good
governance, the Japanese officials said.
For Pakistan, Japan will expeditiously implement up to $1 billion in aid over
two years, which was pledged in April, for infrastructure building, support for
Afghan refugees and other areas.
The DPJ won a landslide victory in the House of Representatives election in
August, ending more than half a century of almost continuous rule by the
Liberal Democratic Party, which launched the refueling mission.
==Kyodo
2009-11-11 00:40:39