Japan PM quits, treated for exhaustion

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was hospitalized for psychological stress and exhaustion Thursday, a day after he announced he would quit amid failure at the ballot box and a political brawl over the country’s aid to U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Toshifumi Hibi, a doctor at Keio University Hospital, said Abe would stay for at least three or four days for treatment of gastrointestinal inflammation, exhaustion and other symptoms of stress.

“He is suffering from extreme exhaustion,” Hibi said. “He has lost weight. Symptoms include abdominal pain, digestion problems and lack of appetite.”

Abe, 52, surprised members of his party and even his own Cabinet on Wednesday by deciding to resign only days after he pledged to stake his government on the success of legislation to extend a naval mission providing fuel for coalition warships in the Indian Ocean.

Admiral contradicts state’s refuel claim

Pakistani warships in the Indian Ocean can likely operate without the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s refueling operations, the MSDF chief said, contradicting one of the government’s arguments for continuing the anti-terror mission.

“In principle, it is possible” for the United States and other countries in the multinational forces to provide substitute fuel, Adm. Eiji Yoshikawa, chief of staff of the MSDF, said at a news conference Tuesday.

Yoshikawa said MSDF vessels are providing high-quality fuel with the use of fuel purifiers. But he added that supply vessels of other countries are also “generally” equipped with fuel purifiers.

He said he “believes” that Pakistani warships would be able to operate without fuel supplied by the MSDF.

Yoshikawa’s statements cast doubt on the government’s contention that MSDF vessels are the only ones that can provide high-quality fuel for Pakistani warships in the war against terror in Afghanistan.

Russians post ‘secret’ sub plan on web

Foreign spies in Russia have been handed an unexpected gift by officials in the town of Sarov who accidentally posted details of a new top secret submarine on the local administration’s website.

The embarrassing leak followed what was supposed to be a confidential meeting between the commander of the secret submarine and officials in the closed town, which is home to Russia’s main nuclear research facility.

Instead, overly assiduous officials wrote a press release that covered the meeting in minute detail, not only naming the prototype vessel’s commander as Capt Sergei Kroshkin but even revealing the project’s code number: 20120.

Other technical and tactical specifications were also given, including the submarine’s water displacement of 3,950 tonnes.

It was not until the story was dutifully picked up by local newspapers that officials noticed the slip.

Vietnamese and Aussie naval forces plan anti-terrorism ties

Vietnamese and Australian naval forces will increase diver training and naval anti-terrorism co-operation, said military officials yesterday.

Senior Lieutenant-General Nguyen Khac Nghien, General Chief of Staff, received Australian Sea Forces Commander Russell Edward Shalders in Ha Noi, both saw eye to eye and agreed to enhance co-operation, training and sea management systems.

NATO begins computer-assisted naval exercise in Sevastopol

Representatives of naval forces from fifteen NATO countries are taking part in a computer-assisted command and staff exercise in Sevastopol, the Press Service of the Ukrainian Navy said on Wednesday.

The manoeuvres’ aim is to practice the compatibility of NATO countries with their partners while fulfilling common peacekeeping operations.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 13th, 2007 and is filed under Australia, Japan, Maritime Strategy News, NATO, Navy, Pakistan, Russia, Vietnam. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.