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US rejects Japanese verification request

The US has rejected a request by Japan that it verify Tokyo's contribution to the US-led "war on terror" in Afghanistan is not used for military operations in Iraq, a report said yesterday.

Japan on Thursday ordered two naval ships back to the Indian Ocean after the Diet forced through the resumption of the mission to provide fuel and other support to coalition forces operating in Afghanistan.

Ahead of the resumption, scheduled for the middle of next month, Japan and the US are making arrangements to exchange documents on details of support later this month, the Kyodo News service said.

But Washington disagreed with Japan's plan to include provisions that would enable Tokyo to verify what the fuel was being used for, Kyodo reported, quoting unnamed sources close to Japan-US relations.

US officials said such provisions would affect its military operations in the region and be a burden on the troops engaged in them, the sources said.

They also argued that it was impossible to strictly match the amount of fuel provided with the amount consumed for certain purposes as the vessels' fuel tanks were never empty, Kyodo reported.

The US even warned that it would have to consider not accepting the fuel if Japan did not give up on the provisions.

The naval mission was suspended in November after Japan's opposition won the upper house of parliament and vowed that the officially pacifist nation should not take part in "American wars."

With the opposition refusing to back legislation to restart the mission, the government took the rare step of using its overwhelming majority in the lower house to override the decision.

The legislation limits Tokyo's activities to support for operations combating terrorism in Afghanistan, but there was speculation that the Japanese fuel was also used in Iraq.

Opposition parties have argued that if the document does not contain a provision allowing Japan to confirm how the fuel is used, it will be unable to effectively restrict the use of the fuel.

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has argued that Tokyo needs to show it is contributing to global security and that the mission would help ensure the safe supply of oil.

Japan, the world's second-largest economy, has virtually no natural energy resources and imports almost all of its oil from the Middle East.

Meanwhile, US and Afghan troops killed or wounded more than two dozen Taliban fighters during a 21-hour battle in eastern Afghanistan, military officials said.

The battle began midday on Friday when US and Afghan troops attacked a group of insurgents moving into position to attack a base in the eastern mountains of Kunar Province, along the border with Pakistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

US and Afghan forces had received intelligence that insurgents were planning a mass attack, it said in a statement on Saturday.

Kunar Province is one of the most violent in the country. US troops stationed there are routinely attacked by Taliban fighters and foreign insurgents allied with al-Qaeda.

The US and Afghan troops used mortars, artillery and helicopters to repel the attack. Fighter aircraft also dropped precision-guided bombs, ISAF said.

The mountainous terrain made it difficult to confirm the exact number of insurgent casualties but intelligence reports indicated that more than two dozen fighters were killed or wounded, ISAF said. No US or Afghan forces were wounded or killed, and no civilian casualties were reported, it said.

Fighting in Afghanistan typically falls off during the winter, but sporadic engagements still take place. Last year, US forces in the east saw suspected Taliban fighters move over the border en masse, and warplanes killed or wounded 130 of them.

Last year was Afghanistan's most violent since the 2001 ouster of the Taliban from power.
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