Sadako Ogata, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's special envoy on Afghan affairs, is likely to be the Japanese chair of a multinational conference to discuss the reconstruction of Afghanistan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda hinted Friday.

"I think things will end up that way," Fukuda said when asked about the possibility of giving the job to Ogata.

The choice of who will represent Tokyo has been closely watched after some media reports maintained that Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka was interested in playing a role. The conference will take place in Tokyo in January.

Tanaka countered the media reports, claiming she only wants to cooperate with Ogata to make the gathering a success.

The ministerial-level conference is expected to be held in Tokyo on Jan. 21 and 22. The gathering follows up official talks on the same topic that were held in November in Washington. The previous round of talks was attended by officials from 21 countries, including China, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Ogata, who was United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees until last year, was appointed by Koizumi as Japan's special envoy on Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.

At the November conference, which was also jointly chaired by Japan and the U.S., Ogata emphasized in her opening address that the plight of Afghanistan has been largely ignored by the rest of the world.

Kabul liaison office

The Foreign Ministry is having difficulty communicating with staff dispatched to a liaison office in Kabul, a senior ministry official said Friday.

Two personnel at the Japanese Embassy in Islamabad were dispatched to the Afghan capital on Thursday, taking satellite telephones with them. The equipment, however, is apparently not working due to bad weather, the official told reporters.

The liaison office was set up in preparation for the formal launch Saturday of the interim administration in Afghanistan, which the Japanese government has already decided to recognize as the government of the war-torn country.

Shigeo Uetake, senior vice foreign minister, who is currently traveling in the Baltic states, will make a one-day trip to Kabul on Saturday to attend a ceremony to mark the establishment of the new administration and to convey Japan's recognition of it, the official said.

Japan established diplomatic relations with Afghanistan in 1931. Tokyo still recognizes the country as a state, but has not given diplomatic recognition to any group as a government entity since the Soviet invasion of the country in 1979.