The Japanese military may give logistical support to the United States in its campaign against terrorists but will not venture near any fighting, a government spokesman said Tuesday.
The spokesman denied a report in the conservative Sankei Shimbun newspaper that the United States had asked Japan to help transport wounded US soldiers from the front lines to US medical facilities in Japan.
"Whatever role the Self Defense Forces will play, they will not be in the battlefield. They will only be involved in rear-area activities," said Norio Hattori, deputy press secretary for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"We will act within the framework of the constitution. The constitution does not allow the use of force to resolve international conflicts," he said.
The Sankei also reported Tuesday that Washington asked Tokyo to set up and run a field hospital in Pakistan, as the presence of Japanese might not be as provocative as that of Americans given Tokyo's position as a major aid donor.
But, Patrick Linehan, spokesman for the US embassy in Tokyo, denied the report.
"The United States has not asked [Japan] to do anything concrete yet," Linehan told AFP. "We don't know what we need Japan to do yet."
Meanwhile, Japan planned to send members of its so-called self defense force to Pakistan as early as next week to help support refugees from Afghanistan, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun economic daily reported in its evening edition.
The decision was based on a request from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the business daily said, adding that Japanese troops were to transport food, tents and blankets to the country.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda admitted that Tokyo had received "such a general request" from the UNHCR, but declined to unveil further details of any troop dispatch. "We want to respond after watching developments," he said.
On Monday the Kyodo News agency said a Japanese destroyer armed with the Aegis combat system -- and three other naval ships with some 900 crew members aboard -- were set to leave as early as Thursday for the Indian Ocean and a rendezvous with US naval forces led by the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk.
It would be the first time armed Japanese forces were dispatched abroad in connection with a US military operation and comes despite a post-World War Two constitutional ban on the use of force overseas, Kyodo said.
The September 11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have led Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to pledge a legislative change to let Japan provide US forces with logistical support such as medical services, transportation and supplies.
Japan's parliament reopens Thursday and lawmakers are expected to take-up the matter, while a poll in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun revealed Tuesday that approximately 70 percent of the Japanese public favor mobilizing the military in support of US-led forces against terrorism -- TOKYO (AFP)
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