The government will decide on the dispatch of Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels on an intelligence-gathering mission in the Indian Ocean soon after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi returns to Tokyo from an overseas trip, Defense Agency Director General Gen Nakatani said Friday.
Koizumi, who plans to attend talks this weekend in Brunei with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is due to return Tuesday.
The National Security Council, headed by Koizumi, will make the decision when it convenes, possibly next week.
The MSDF task force, believed to include destroyers, will be dispatched before the Self-Defense Forces send supplies to the U.S.-led forces deployed to the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. It is believed the vessels will assess the safety of those areas.
The MSDF intelligence mission will be carried in line with the Defense Agency Law, which allows the agency to conduct necessary "research" activities. On Sept. 19, Koizumi announced that the government will "promptly" dispatch MSDF vessels for the mission as part of his seven-point antiterrorism measures.
The government, apparently hoping to demonstrate a visible contribution by Japan, at one time planned to conduct the mission before a bill to enable the SDF to provide logistic support had cleared the Diet.
The plan was later scuttled when critics pointed out that the matter should be discussed before the MSDF is dispatched.