Japan PM left in Afghan deadlock
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Japan's PM Yasuo Fukuda fails to get opposition agreement to continue a support mission for Afghanistan.
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TOKYO : Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has vowed not to pull out its troops in Iraq, despite reports that another of its national has been taken hostage.
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has suffered another plunge in his popularity, a poll showed Tuesday, as the opposition refused to back down in a row over support for US-led troops in Afghanistan.
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Japan's prime minister says he may resign if MPs block his plans to extend Japan's mission in Afghanistan.
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's support remains stuck at slightly above 30 percent, which many analysts consider a crisis level, a survey showed on Monday, just over a month before an upper house election.
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Japan's ruling party forces through a bill reviving a support mission for US-led forces in Afghanistan.
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Japan's government was still in the dark  about a Japanese held hostage in Iraq on Thursday, less than 24  hours before a deadline set by his captors, who have threatened  to behead the young man unless Japan withdraws its troops.
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Japan's new prime minister denied on Tuesday that he wants to change the country's pacifist constitution to permit its military to wage war overseas.
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While the six-party talks are making headway on the North's nuclear weapons, for Japan the more contentious issue is what happened to its citizens kidnapped by the regime
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Prime Minister Shinzo Abe began the toughest battle of his political life in a parliament session that opened on Monday after staking his job on extending Japan's naval mission in support of U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan.
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Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made the pledge after talks with visiting South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun. The Japanese government is under pressure to impose sanctions over a row concerning kidnapped Japanese.
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Japan&#39;s main opposition leader on Thursday rebuffed an appeal by visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel to keep supporting the &quot;war on terror&quot; in Afghanistan, an official said.
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NEW YORK-The Iraqi and Afghan leaders both asked Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to continue assisting their war-ravaged countries, Japanese officials said Tuesday.
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, under fire after a cabinet minister killed himself, scrambled on Thursday to quell another furor over mismanaged pensions that has hurt his popularity ahead of a July election.
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Japan's prime minister failed on Tuesday to win the main opposition leader's agreement to extend a naval mission backing U.S.-led Afghan operations, activities Washington says are vital to the fight against terrorism.
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Japan's Yasuo Fukuda looks likely to cruise to victory in a ruling party leadership race on Sunday to become the next prime minister. Then comes the hard part.
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Japan sought international help on  Thursday for a Japanese man held hostage in Iraq, with less  than 24 hours to go for a deadline set by his captors to behead  him unless Tokyo withdraws its troops.