TOKYO, Jan 11: Japan’s defence minister ordered the navy on Friday to ready ships for dispatch to the Indian Ocean to join the fight on terror, ending a three-month hiatus but deepening a political battle at home with the opposition.

The order was issued by Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba after Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda’s ruling coalition forced a bill through parliament to revive the US-backed anti-terror mission.

Fukuda said he expects the ships to leave by the end of the month, meaning they could be back in the Indian Ocean sometime next month.

Japan had refuelled ships since 2001 in support of US-led forces in Afghanistan, but was forced to abandon the mission in November, when the opposition blocked an extension, saying it violated Japan’s pacifist constitution and did not have the United Nations’ backing.

Unable to build a consensus, Fukuda’s ruling coalition made the rare move of using its two-thirds majority in the lower house to overrule the opposition-controlled upper house, which voted down the mission on Thursday. It was the first such override since 1951.

“We want to restart this mission as soon as possible,” Ishiba said. “We are committed to actively contribute to the fight against terrorism.”

He said it would likely take two to three weeks to prepare the ships, and another three weeks for them to reach their area of operations. Further details of the deployment were to be worked out next week.

Under the new orders, Japanese ships will monitor possible terrorist activity at sea and will refuel and resupply ally vessels, but will not directly be involved in the hostilities in Afghanistan -- a restriction aimed at winning over a public wary of violating the spirit of the post-World War II constitution.

When the mission was halted, only two Japanese ships, a tanker and a destroyer, were in the region. The new mission was also expected to involve only two or three ships at a time.

Officials said the mission, though tightly restricted, symbolises Japan’s commitment to the war on terror and its support of the US, its main ally and trading partner.

Fukuda and other ruling-party lawmakers have stressed that Tokyo must fulfil its obligations in the global war against terrorism and accept a security role commensurate with its economic clout.

The United States had lobbied hard for the mission, and US Ambassador Thomas Schieffer lauded the passage on Friday.

“Terrorism is the bane of our time,” he said in a statement. “Japan has demonstrated its willingness to stand with those who are trying to create a safer, more tolerant world.”

So far, Japan has supplied 132 million gallons of fuel to coalition warships, including those from the US, Britain and Pakistan, according to the Japanese government.

The opposition accused the ruling camp of forcing its will on the people.

“This is a clear abuse of power,” said Yoshito Sengoku, a lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan. “The government will now surely lose the trust of the people.”

The DPJ, which took control of the upper chamber last year, is calling for elections soon to test Fukuda’s public mandate.—AP