Peace Winds Japan, a major Tokyo-based nongovernmental organization, said Sunday the Foreign Ministry has barred it from attending a two-day ministerial meeting on the reconstruction of Afghanistan that begins in the capital today.

The group added that the ministry also barred it from attending a preliminary meeting Sunday of NGOs from different countries also organized by the ministry. The afternoon was designed to let the groups coordinate and report on the results of their discussions to the ministerial gathering.

Some observers said that barring PWJ could draw opposition from other NGOs because it has been actively engaged in support activities for Afghan reconstruction and may affect aid from the private sector.

PWJ said it applied to attend the ministerial event and the NGO meeting at the invitation of the ministry but was told it had been barred when it attempted to register on Saturday.

The Foreign Ministry has indicated it will restrict NGOs' participation at the meeting, a move that has drawn fire from Japanese NGOs.

PWJ has conducted support activities in East Timor and elsewhere and has been actively taking part in support in Afghanistan. It was the first Japanese NGO to work there after the Taliban regime fell in December.

Kensuke Onishi, who serves as PWJ's overall supervisor, is also head of Japan Platform, a Tokyo-based aid organization that Japanese NGOs, the Foreign Ministry and the business sector created in 2000.

An official of the ministry's Second Middle East Division explained that while NGOs were invited, their numbers were reduced after a screening found those "which had problems."

The official refused to comment further.