The coming political battle on whether to extend the special antiterrorism law on logistic support for multinational forces in Afghanistan is a major challenge for the Foreign Ministry, according to Nobutaka Machimura.
The newly appointed foreign minister said that's the message he delivered to his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, during a telephone conference Tuesday to renew the government's commitment to extend the law.
"We didn't talk about details because it was a telephone conference. But yes, I told her that extension of the special antiterrorism law is a major challenge," Machimura said in an interview.