Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Presidential election candidates, LDP Secretary-General Taro Aso (L) and former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda attend a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo September 19, 2007.
TOKYO Japanese officials hope a U.N. resolution to be adopted this month will clear the way to extend a naval mission aiding U.S.-led Afghanistan military operations, pleasing Washington and averting a bruising showdown in parliament as a new government kicks off.
The leader of Japan's main opposition Democratic Party, Ichiro Ozawa, has opposed extending Japan's mission to refuel coalition ships in the Indian Ocean, in part because he says the activities lack a direct U.N. imprimatur.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe abruptly announced his resignation last week after a troubled year in office, citing the confrontation over the naval mission as the main reason.
Officials later mentioned health problems, too, and Abe has since been hospitalized for stress and exhaustion while his ruling party rushes to pick his successor in a September 23 poll.
The Democrats and their opposition allies won control of parliament's upper house in a July election and can delay legislation to extend the mission beyond a November 1 deadline.
A U.N. Security Council resolution to extend the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, a NATO-led peace force, is likely to include "words of appreciation" for the Indian Ocean maritime mission, a diplomatic source said on Wednesday.
"I think it's likely and it's going to be a very good boost for the continuation of the operations," the source said.
Kyodo news agency said the resolution could be adopted later on Wednesday.
"If the resolution is adopted, then the DPJ (Democratic Party of Japan) will lose its largest grounds for opposing Japan's participation," Kyodo quoted Defense Minister Masahiko Komura as saying.
COMPROMISE OR CONFRONTATION
Both candidates to succeed Abe -- frontrunner Yasuo Fukuda, who is a 71-year-old former cabinet minister, and former foreign minister Taro Aso -- have stressed the need to continue the naval mission, in which Japan supplies fuel for coalition ships from countries including Pakistan, the only Muslim nation to take part.
Japanese public support for the mission has been growing, but it was unclear whether the U.N. resolution would be enough to change the Democratic Party's stance.
Democratic Party Secretary-General Yukio Hatoyama termed the notion of referring to the maritime activities in the U.N. resolution "ridiculous", adding, "What is the government up to?"
Some analysts, though, said a U.N. resolution might provide a way to break the deadlock between the government and the opposition and help Ozawa resolve a split in his own party between hawks who want to extend the mission and doves who don't.
"Ozawa would win in two ways," said Steven Reed, a political science professor at Chuo University in Tokyo.
"First, the LDP comes around to the Democratic Party policy, and second, he bridges gaps in his own party."
Ozawa has called for an early general election but his own party is probably not ready yet for another nationwide campaign.
No lower house election need be held until late 2009.
A parliamentary deadlock could force one sooner, but Japan's new leader will likely try to put off a vote as long as possible given weak LDP support rates.
(Additional reporting by George Nishiyama)
An ISAF humvee overlooks Khost, Afghanistan.
The United Nations Security Council has voted 14–0 to extend the mandate of the  (ISAF) in Afghanistan by another year.

The resolution says the Security Council agreed to, "extend the authorization of the International Security Assistance Force, as defined in resolutions 1386 (2001) and 1510 (2003), for a period of 12 months beyond October 13, 2007."

Although Russia has veto power on the Security Council, it abstained during the 14-0 vote on September 19th.  

Russian Ambassador to the United Nations, , told ''RIA Novosti'' Russia abstained because of what he called, "the unexpected inclusion in the document of a sentence expressing appreciation to NATO ....  "including its maritime interdiction component." "

Part of Resolution 1776 (2007) reads, "Expressing its appreciation for the leadership provided by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and for the contributions of many nations to ISAF and to the OEF coalition, including its maritime interdiction component."

Media reports indicate this section of the resolution provides support to Japan in a domestic dispute in that country over refueling of U.S. and other ships in the Indian Ocean.  Japanese government spokesperson, Kaoru Yosano, told ''Reuters'' the resolution was welcome, adding, "It is very important that Japan's refueling activity was evaluated highly by the United Nations and members of the U.N. Security Council."

"A decision was made to give priority to domestic considerations of some members of the United Nations," Churkin told ''Agence France Presse''. "The unity of the Security Council has been sacrificed to undue haste."

Even before the Security Council vote, Japanese officials hoped the resolution would clear the way to extend a naval mission assisting U.S.-led Afghanistan military operations, showing support for Washington and averting a conflict in the Japanese in parliament as a new government begins its mandate there.

The leader of Japan's main opposition Democratic Party, Ichiro Ozawa, has opposed extending Japan's mission to refuel coalition ships in the Indian Ocean, in part because he says the activities lack a direct U.N. imprimatur.

Although expressing concerns about the resolution, and calling for future decisions on the issue to be made "by consensus", China supported the resolution.

The resolution extends the ISAF mission mandate under Chapter VII of the  until October 13, 2008.

Expressing its concern about all civilian casualties, the resolution, condemns "in the strongest terms all attacks, including Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks, suicide attacks and abductions, targeting civilians and Afghan and international forces and their deleterious effect on the stabilization, reconstruction and development efforts in Afghanistan," as well as "the use by the Taliban and other extremist groups of civilians as human shields."

The resolution also calls for ISAF coalition members to, "sustain their efforts to train and empower the National Police and other Afghan forces."  

ISAF currently has approximately 39,000 troops deployed in Afghanistan.  Its mission, as stated on the ISAF web page, is to, "conduct military operations in the assigned area of operations to assist the Government of Afghanistan in the establishment and maintenance of a safe and secure environment with full engagement of Afghan National Security Forces, in order to extend government authority and influence, thereby facilitating Afghanistan's reconstruction and contributing to regional stability."