Envoys from 11 countries including the United States and
Pakistan urged Japan to extend its naval mission in support of
US-led operations in Afghanistan.
Their statement put further pressure on Japanese opposition parties
to drop their stance against allowing the operation to refuel
US-led coalition ships to continue.
"The members of the coalition acknowledge and greatly appreciate
Japan's support...and hope that Japan will continue its important
contribution," Pakistani ambassador Kamran Niaz told reporters
after the envoys met at his embassy.
Pakistan is the only Muslim country taking part in the Indian Ocean
operations.
Other countries represented at Thursday's meeting included France, Germany and Afghanistan.
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who took office only on
Wednesday, has stressed the need to extend the mission beyond its
current expiry date of November 1.
But the opposition Democratic Party and its small allies are
against it and can if they wish delay enabling legislation given
their majority in parliament's upper house.
Washington says Japan's mission is vital not only for the United
States but for the broader international community.
President George W Bush made the point again in a telephone chat
with Fukuda on Wednesday.
"It's not an American question - it's a question for the
international community," US ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer
said after the Pakistani embassy meeting.
Fukuda's predecessor, Shinzo Abe, abruptly resigned on September
12, saying he wanted to clear the way for a compromise with the
opposition over the Indian Ocean mission.
He later said health problems had been a big factor in his
decision to quit.
Fukuda's Liberal Democratic Party and its allies can override any
upper house rejection of enabling legislation, given their
two-thirds majority in the more powerful lower chamber, but will be
watching public opinion so as not to risk a backlash, analysts
say.
Public support for the Japanese mission has been rising.
A survey by the Nikkei business daily published on Thursday
showed that 47% of voters now back the activities against 37% who
oppose an extension.
Democratic Party leaders have said the mission lacks the imprimatur
of the United Nations, and dismissed a recent expression of
gratitude for the maritime interdiction operations contained in a
UN Security Council Resolution as insufficient.
The Democrats also plan to press for more information about what
precisely the maritime interdiction mission is accomplishing and
whether Japanese fuel provided has been diverted for US operations
in Iraq in violation of the enabling legislation, as some
Japanese media reported.