JAPAN: U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney addresses troops aboard U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk stationed at Yokosuka / pays visit to Japanese Emperor Akihito in Tokyo

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney seeks to reassure ally Japan about U.S. strategy on Iraq despite growing doubts at home and abroad, and pledged to coordinate policies on North Korea's nuclear arms programmes. U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, on an official trip to the Asia-Pacific region, Wednesday (February 21) went aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk stationed at Yokosuka, southwest of Tokyo to meet U.S. troops. Cheney arrived in Japan on Tuesday (February 20) on a visit to reassure close ally Japan that a troop buildup will help quell violence in Iraq, just weeks after Japan's defence minister said starting the war was a mistake. "The President wanted me to make this journey first to Japan and then to Guam and on to Australia in order to pay our respects to two great allies of the U.S. and to reaffirm America's deep commitment to a formal presence in the Asia-Pacific region," Cheney told the troops. Earlier in the day, Cheney paid a visit to Japanese Emperor Akihito. Cheney will also meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Taro Aso. Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, sent some 550 non-combat troops to southern Iraq in 2004 as part of Tokyo's largest and riskiest overseas mission since World War Two. The soldiers returned home last July, but some 200 Japanese air force personnel based in Kuwait are still transporting supplies to the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. Their legal mandate expires in July, but domestic media have said the government plans to extend the mission. jm/jrc

ITN Source | February 21, 2007

Tags:. .minister. .growing. .deep. .carrier. .arms