Daily Yomiuri:Prime Minister Taro Aso's order to Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada on Friday to thrash out details of a possible deployment of Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels to pirate-infested waters off Somalia has brought such a mission a step closer.
But a series of hurdles must first be cleared if the envisioned dispatch is to go smoothly.
"We shouldn't waste any time now in working out countermeasures [for Somali pirates] so we don't end up in a flap later," the prime minister said to reporters at his official residence Friday night.
Aso said the advisability of dispatching MSDF ships by invoking a provision for maritime patrols in the Self-Defense Forces Law should now be considered.
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