JAPAN: Germany and Japan agree on support for Afghanistan says German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Record ID: 465011

  • Title: JAPAN: Germany and Japan agree on support for Afghanistan says German Chancellor Angela Merkel
  • Date: 29th August 2007
  • Summary: (BN10) TOKYO, JAPAN (AUGUST 29, 2007) (REUTERS) PLANE ARRIVING DOOR TO PLANE OPENING AND GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL EXITING THE PLANE MERKEL WALKS DOWN STAIRS GERMAN AND JAPANESE OFFICIALS WELCOMING MERKEL MERKEL WALKING UP TO A CAR
  • Embargoed: 13th September 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA4VW5NX505EZGXZXXMTGOZ0OLD
  • Story Text: Japan and Germany agreed at a summit in Tokyo on Wednesday (August 29) that they should continue to support Afghanistan and not yield to terrorism, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
    Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe faces a battle to continue naval support for U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan, a mission which is opposed by an opposition majority in the upper house of parliament.
    "We agreed that we must not yield to terrorist activities but that we have to do everything to give the Afghan people a real future, and thus protect our own security, too," Merkel told reporters after talks with Abe at his official residence.
    She thanked Japan for its support in the Indian Ocean.
    Abe said he had told her that he would do everything he could to persuade the opposition to support the continuation of the mission.
    Japan's navy has been refuelling coalition ships in the Indian Ocean since 2001 under a law that expires on November 1. The government plans to submit a bill extending the mission to parliament next month.
    The more powerful lower house can override a rejection by the upper house, but a delay might mean the bill does not pass before the deadline, possibly resulting in a hiatus in supply.
    On the economic front, Abe said the Japanese economy remains strong when asked about japan's stock market that fell nearly three percent on Wednesday.
    "I believe the Japanese economy is on a strong recovery track. I, as prime minister, am not in a position to comment on the stock prices, but I would closely keep watching economic figures," he said.
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