The Defense Agency said Friday it would commit more forces to the international tsunami-relief effort in Southern Asia, including a transport ship, five helicopters and 60 medics.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>'We are prepared to respond to all possible needs within the framework of the Constitution and other laws,' Defense Agency chief Yoshinori Ono told reporters.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Ono said he has at least 1,000 Self-Defense Forces members standing by for relief operations. Most of them are scheduled to be sent to Indonesia next week.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The transport ship Kunisaki will leave next week to ferry the helicopters -- three CH-47 Chinook transports and two UH-60 Black Hawks -- and the medical personnel. It is expected to arrive at the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the hardest-hit area of the disaster, by the end of the month.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The Kunisaki is scheduled to remain in the region with the rest of its fleet -- the refueling ship Tokiwa and the destroyer Kurama -- to accommodate the medical personnel and serve as a base for the helicopters, agency officials said.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The team will concentrate its efforts on devastated Aceh Province, which occupies the northern tip of Sumatra, they said.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Also on Friday, an Air Self-Defense Force C-130 transport previously delayed by bad weather in Okinawa landed at the Thai base in Utapao, where U.S. forces are coordinating military relief operations. Another C-130 and a U-4 utility plane are standing by, to engage in reconstruction and water purification operations the agency said. A team of engineers will also be dispatched should the need arise, it added.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The law concerning overseas disaster relief stipulates that the SDF can be dispatched only at the request of the host nation. So far, only Indonesia has made such a request, according to the agency.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Ono is scheduled to meet Indonesian Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono in Jakarta on Sunday as part of his weeklong trip to Southeast Asia that starts Saturday.</PARAGRAPH> <SUBHEAD> Long-term aid offered</SUBHEAD> <PARAGRAPH> JAKARTA –

Japan on Friday offered Indonesia assistance for long-term reconstruction from the earthquake and tsunami disaster, in addition to other aid it has already pledged for emergency relief, a Japanese official said.

In a meeting held in Jakarta, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura and Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda agreed to set up a panel to discuss ways to deepen bilateral relations, the official said.

Machimura told Wirajuda that Japan is willing to provide help apart from the 13 billion yen in grants it has pledged for Indonesia's emergency needs, and asked Indonesia to make specific requests, the official said.

Wirajuda expressed his appreciation and said Japan's offer of a moratorium on debt repayment for the affected countries will also help, the official said.