Global Arab Network | Djibouti and Japan to sign deal on antipiracy mission

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Djibouti and Japan to sign deal on antipiracy mission

Japan will sign a status of forces agreement Friday with Djibouti, where the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force will base its planes during its current antipiracy mission in waters off Somalia, Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said.

Nakasone will ink the deal with visiting Djibouti Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf at talks Friday afternoon. Prior to the signing, Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada met with the Djibouti foreign minister in Tokyo and thanked him for enabling the bilateral arrangement.

"Djibouti has received various support from Japan over the past 30 years. So I'm personally happy to return favors" as a host for MSDF planes, Ali Youssouf said, according to a Japanese official in a statement relayed by the Japanese /Kyodo/ news agency.

He then asked Japan to help his country take its own antipiracy measures, noting that rampant piracy off the Somali shores has wreaked havoc with the Djibouti economy due to a rapid decline in port calls by commercial ships passing through the guf. ''I will see what we can do," Hamada was quoted as saying. ''I want to strengthen relations between Japan and Djibouti on a wide range of areas.''

Later in the day, Nakasone and Ali Youssouf are expected to sign the status of forces agreement on the stationing of the MSDF's P-3C patrol aircraft. Japan deployed two MSDF destroyers last month to waters off the Horn of Africa,marking Japan''s first overseas antipiracy mission.

The signing of the status of forces agreement will enable Japan to deploy MSDF P-3C patrol aircraft to the gulf. The destroyers began escorting Japan-linked ships Monday and as of Friday will have completed two escort trips, according to the Defense Ministry.

They are expected to make their first port call at the Djibouti port next Monday. Japan joins more than a dozen countries, including the United States, Russia, China and some European nations that have deployed naval vessels to the region on antipiracy missions. A status of forces agreement clarifies the terms under which foreign troops are allowed to operate in a host country, particularly legal issues related to personnel and property.

Arab Global Network

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