Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi hinted Tuesday that he may lift Japan's more than three-year-long freeze on new aid to Pakistan to help it fight terrorism in the U.S.-led coalition.

"In terms of assistance to Pakistan, I think we can deal with it differently from other countries," Koizumi told a joint meeting of the House of Councilors' foreign affairs, defense, transport and Cabinet committees.

"When we think about the turn of events after the terrorist attacks (in the United States), we must also think about economic aid," he said.

Japan froze soft yen loans and grant aid for new projects to Pakistan and India after each conducted nuclear tests in 1998. The freeze excludes loans and grants for emergency and humanitarian aid, as well as assistance for grassroots projects.

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf called for lifting the freeze in a telephone conversation with Koizumi last week, saying Pakistan needs aid to offset the negative fallout from the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington.

Tokyo has maintained it will make a decision after considering such factors as Pakistan's progress on nuclear nonproliferation policies, bilateral relations and the international situation.

In the Diet on Tuesday, Koizumi made another pitch for a bill that would allow the Self-Defense Forces to provide noncombat support for the U.S.-led antiterrorism campaign.

"Japan should cooperate for the eradication of terrorism by doing everything in its power. That is the path that will ensure Japan's future freedom, peace, democracy and economic prosperity," he said. "I hope the bill will be passed soon, so we can proceed with specific matters."

Koizumi's ruling coalition has a majority in both houses of the Diet, and the bill is expected to pass the Upper House by the end of the month. The government will draw up a plan for assisting the U.S. once the law is enacted.

Defense Agency chief Gen Nakatani indicated in the Diet it is possible Japan will send its state-of-the-art destroyers, equipped with the Aegis antimissile system, to conduct information-gathering missions as part of Japan's assistance to the military campaign.

"After the law's enactment, there will be the need to gather various kind of information," Nakatani said. "We are considering whether or not to send them."