The United States wants Japan to again extend its refueling mission for U.S.-led coalition vessels in the Indian Ocean, senior lawmaker Taku Yamasaki said Tuesday.
Peter Rodman, assistant defense secretary for international security, made a request for the extension at a meeting with Yamasaki at the Pentagon, the former vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said afterward.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force mission is scheduled to expire in November. It has already been extended twice.
Yamasaki was limited in his response, saying he told Rodman it would require "a lot of political energy" to extend the special law that allows the refueling as a contribution to antiterrorism operations in Afghanistan.