| ★阿修羅♪ > 戦争73 > 979.html ★阿修羅♪ |
|
| Tweet |
「ジ・オーストラリアン紙」から貼り付けます。
http://theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16429529%255E2703,00.html
第２パラグラフ： Mr Koizumi said yesterday that no decision had been taken but if it were returned to government after September 11, his Liberal Democratic Party and its partner, New Komeito, would be under strong pressure from the US administration to extend the Japanese mission in Iraq into a third year.
試訳：小泉首相は２９日、まだ未決定だが、選挙後自公政権が勝ったら、米政権から強く求められている自衛隊派遣延長するだろうと述べた。
（貼り付け開始）
Koizumi reveals Iraq plea on troops
Peter Alford, Tokyo correspondent
August 30, 2005
THE Iraq war has became a Japanese election issue after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi disclosed that the Baghdad Government had asked for Japan's military contingent to stay beyond December.
Mr Koizumi said yesterday that no decision had been taken but if it were returned to government after September 11, his Liberal Democratic Party and its partner, New Komeito, would be under strong pressure from the US administration to extend the Japanese mission in Iraq into a third year.
The opposition Democratic Party is campaigning on a promise to withdraw the contingent of 550 military engineers in December, and there is growing concern at home about the risk of an Islamic terror strike.
Since before the non-combat troops were sent in December, public polling has shown majority opinion consistently against the deployment.
Legislation allows the cabinet to renew it annually.
The Japanese contingent, now protected by Australian troops while carrying out civil reconstruction work, has suffered no casualties, though two Japanese diplomats and a kidnapped traveller have been murdered by insurgents.
However, the Iraq issue does not seem to have hurt the Koizumi Government.
Mr Koizumi disclosed the Iraqi request to keep the non-combat contingent in Samawa, a relatively calm southern city, during a nationally televised debate yesterday between the party leaders.
"Japan has received an official request to extend its presence in Iraq," he said.
"So we will continue to monitor the situation there and make a comprehensive decision based on realities within the country, the opinions of the Iraqi people, US-Japan relations and Japan's responsibilities to the international community."
With the campaign proper starting today, the National Police Agency, Tokyo's metropolitan police and the intelligence agencies are boosting security and surveillance activities against the possibility of an Islamist attack.
Although police officials say they are already alert to risks, following the pre-election bombings in Madrid last year and the London attacks during the Gleneagles G8 meeting, a warning from France's top anti-terror investigator has sharpened public concern.
"We have several elements of information that make us think countries in this region, especially Japan, could have been targeted," investigating magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguiere told the Financial Times last week.
Security experts are divided about whether Japan is at any special risk during the election, though at least one thinks the danger is real.
"There's no question right now (but) that the time is ripe for an attack in Japan," Jun Yamazaki, head of the Japan arm of international consultancy Control Risks Group, said yesterday. "The situation here is similar to the situation in Spain. And that terrorism was successful -- Spain withdrew from Iraq."
However, most of yesterday's debate - the campaign's only direct confrontation between MrKoizumi and the other leaders - focused on his chosen battleground of Japan Post's privatisation.
Mr Koizumi dissolved the House of Representatives after his postal privatisation bills were defeated in the upper house, which he could not force to a snap election.
The LDP has refused to support 37 of its MPs who earlier voted against the bill in the lower house.
"The parliament said (privatisation was) not necessary, but I have believed it is at the heart of structural reforms," Mr Koizumi said. "So I want to ask the Japanese people what they really think."
DPJ leader Katsuya Okada said true reform could come only with a change in government.
"We want to stress the importance of pension and childcare issues ... the Koizumi Government cannot achieve these reforms, " he said. "We need a change in government."
Additional reporting: Reuters
（貼り付け終了）
ＲＣ：日本のメディアに載らないのは、「記者クラブ制度」の弊害ではないでしょうか。
題名には必ず「阿修羅さんへ」と記述してください。