TOKYO, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Japan's parliament agreed Friday to extend the current session again till Jan. 15, with the ruling bloc seeking passage of a bill that will enable Japan to resume refueling support to U.S.-led antiterrorism operations.

    The oppositions, led by the Democratic Party of Japan, objected to the one-month extension, which will allow enough time to vote and pass the bill again in the lower house even if the upper house fails to approve it.

    The DPJ and other opposition parties, which practically control the House of Councilors, have demonstrated strong objections to continue such refueling support.

    Before the extension decision was made in a plenary session in the afternoon, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said that the government wants to "definitely" enact the refueling bill so that Japan can fulfill its "minimum responsibility as a member of the international community."

    Last month, the Diet had prolonged the current session through Dec. 15, to ensure time for deliberation over the bill which authorizes the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling operations for foreign vessels participating in antiterrorism operations in and near Afghanistan. The second extension of session will give the ruling camp sufficient time for a second vote.

    Under Japan's constitution, if a bill fails to clear the House of Councillors within 60 days, the bill could be sent back to the lower chamber for a second vote. As the bill has been passed by the lower house on Nov. 13, the ruling party-dominated lower house could have the bill passed in this Diet session after Friday's extension.

    The extension was considered rare in Japan, as the parliament will sit through the year-end and New Year period.

    Japan halted a six-year refueling support to U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and near Afghanistan at the end of October, as the special antiterrorism measures law authorizing such operations expired on Nov. 1.

    The government later submitted a bill to the Diet for a new law to continue the refueling support, which defines the activities as supplying oil and water to foreign vessels engaged in antiterrorism maritime interdiction operations in the Indian Ocean and limits the activities to "non-combat" areas in the Indian Ocean. The new law, if established upon the bill, expires one year after coming into force and allows extension for up to one year.

Japan, U.S. agree on puny cut of host-nation support for bases

    TOKYO, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Japan and the United States agreed on Wednesday to cut a little of Japan's financial support as host-nation for U.S. military bases.

Yearender: Japan sees a year of political turbulence

    TOKYO, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Political situation in Japan has been rather turbulent in the year 2007 and the unrest culminated in the July defeat of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the upper house election.