SDF unit to get South Sudan dispatch orders on Friday
Kyodo
The government has started making arrangements for Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa to order a Ground Self-Defense Force engineering unit to prepare to head to South Sudan as early as Friday, government sources said
Ichikawa will issue the order to Self-Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Ryoichi Oriki and other defense officials once the plan is confirmed at a Cabinet meeting on Friday. The government will notify the United Nations of the plan, they said.
The SDF will start organizing the unit and compiling an operational plan for the mission between early next year and February, the sources said.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda recently said he intends to send an SDF unit to South Sudan early next year to join U.N. peacekeeping operations.
The government is considering sending a unit comprising between 300 and 350 engineers to South Sudan by February at the request of the United Nations, before the African country’s rainy season starts up in April, which will make road work difficult, the sources said.
The government has concluded that local security does not pose a problem for the engineering unit, based on reports from an advance survey team that visited the country in late September, they said.
The United Nations and the Japanese government have already agreed on basing the unit in the capital city of Juba for road and bridge construction.
The Cabinet could approve the size of the unit, the length of the mission and its equipment as early as November.
Panetta gives assurances
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta vowed Monday that the United States will maintain and strengthen the presence of its military in the Pacific region despite calls for defense spending cuts.
"The Pacific remains a priority of the United States . . . we will continue to not only maintain but to strengthen our presence in this part of the world," Panetta said during a speech at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo, home to the headquarters of the U.S. military in Japan.
Panetta also told the gathering upon his arrival in Japan that the United States will maintain a strong presence in the Pacific "for a long time" and is "not anticipating any cutbacks in this region." About 230 personnel from the U.S. military and the Self-Defense Forces took part.
Panetta, on his first visit to Japan through Wednesday since assuming his post in July, underlined the vital role of the Japan-U.S. alliance as the "cornerstone of peace and stability in the Pacific" now and in the next 50 years as well.
The U.S. defense chief lauded efforts made by U.S. service personnel in helping the SDF in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and noted that the challenges they continue to face in and out of the region, such as nuclear proliferation in North Korea and terrorism.
Panetta will meet with his local counterpart, Yasuo Ichikawa, on Tuesday at a time when the Japanese government has been trying to break a stalemate over the controversial relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture.
The central government recently told the Okinawa Prefectural Government that it intends to submit an environmental impact assessment report by yearend, a key step to pushing the relocation despite strong opposition in Okinawa, which already hosts the bulk of U.S. forces in Japan.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111025a9.html
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