Japan's pullout of Afghan mission 'unthinkable': PM
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Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda pleaded with parliament to extend Japan's support for the US-led "war on terror" but a fresh defence scandal provided new ammunition for the opposition.
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After the arrest of a U.S. Marine accused of raping a 14-year-old girl on the southern island of Okinawa, Japanâs prime minister calls the situation âunforgivable.â
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has suffered another plunge in his popularity, a poll showed Tuesday, as the opposition refused to back down in a row over support for US-led troops in Afghanistan.
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Leaving behind a region set on edge by  North Korean missile launches, Japanese Prime Minister  Junichiro Koizumi departed on Tuesday for an increasingly tense  Middle East to call for more efforts toward regional peace.
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The front-runner to become Japan's next prime minister vowed Saturday to extend his nation's support for U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan.
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Japan's PM Yasuo Fukuda fails to get opposition agreement to continue a support mission for Afghanistan.
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NEW YORK-The Iraqi and Afghan leaders both asked Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to continue assisting their war-ravaged countries, Japanese officials said Tuesday.
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Japan's prime minister, a staunch U.S. ally in Iraq, refused on Wednesday to withdraw Japan's troops from the country, taking a tough stance in the face of demands by militants threatening to behead a Japanese hostage unless the soldiers leave.
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Japan's prime minister rejects Iraqi militants' demands for a troop pullout after a Japanese man is seized.
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Japan&#39;s Cabinet on Tuesday extended the country&#39;s naval mission to provide logistical support to the US-led coalition in Afghanistan by six months, and approved a plan to supply fuel for the coalition&#39;s helicopters.
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threat by a militant group to behead a Japanese hostage within 48 hours unless Tokyo pulls its forces out. &quot;We cannot tolerate terrorism and we will not give in to terrorism,&quot; Koizumi told reporters on Wednesday.
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worked with Japanese forces in Iraq if Tokyo does not withdraw its forces from the country within 48 hours. &quot;We grant the Japanese government 48 hours to withdraw its troops from Iraq or this infidel will meet the same fate as Berg ... and.
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Japan's Foreign Ministry spokesman,    Hatsuhisa Takashima , said here last week that his country had been active in the rebuilding of Afghanistan.
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Tokyo must keep a thaw in ties with China on track, the frontrunner to be Japan's next prime minister said on Sunday, while urging Beijing to better explain its ballooning military spending.
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Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and the leader of Japan's main opposition party failed at a meeting on Tuesday to break a stalemate over a naval mission backing U.S.-led Afghan operations, but they agreed to meet again.
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A U.N. resolution to be adopted this month could help clear the way for Japan to extend its naval mission in support of U.S.-led military operations in Afghanistan -- a move keenly sought by Washington, a diplomatic source said.
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Afghanistan must not be allowed to become a failed state again, Gordon Brown says.