October 23, 2007	Tuesday	Shawwal 10, 1428

TOKYO, Oct 22: Japan’s prime minister voiced outrage on Monday after the defence ministry admitted under reporting for years the amount of fuel given to US forces in a controversial military mission.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is facing stiff resistance from the opposition to renewing the naval mission in the Indian Ocean, under which officially pacifist Japan offers fuel to forces from the US-led coalition in Afghanistan.

The defence ministry recently admitted that a Japanese ship supplied 800,000 gallons of diesel to a US Navy oiler on Feb 25, 2003, not 200,000 gallons as initially reported.

On Monday, the ministry issued a report admitting it knew about the error by May 2003 but failed to correct it until a pacifist group raised the issue this month.

The group, Peace Depot, and the opposition say the discrepancy shows Japan has diverted fuel to help US forces in Iraq, a charge denied both by Tokyo and Washington.

The government, which is set to start debate in parliament on Tuesday on extending the naval mission, said it would demand answers on why it took more than four years to report the mistake.

“They have done something outrageous. It has put the whole organisation under suspicion. It has also put myself under suspicion,” Fukuda told reporters.

Fukuda had been chief government spokesman in 2003 and gave the wrong figure on the refuelling.

“It might have been done at the discretion of the people in charge but it should not be taken lightly. We must be fully careful and never repeat this kind of thing.” But the opposition immediately went on the offensive, alleging a deliberate cover-up by the government.

“We can’t help but say, ‘Give us a break.’ The report clearly shows that they tried to make their inferiors pick up the slack,” said Kenji Yamaoka, a senior lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party.—AFP