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WASHINGTON - President George W Bush and new Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda tried to shore up their countries' alliance yesterday, confronting concerns about North Korea and Afghanistan that have frayed relations.
In Fukuda's first White House visit since taking office, Bush vowed the
United States would not forget Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea decades ago as Washington presses Pyongyang to follow through on its nuclear disarmament pledge.
Trying to soothe US worries, Fukuda in turn assured Bush he would do his "utmost" to win renewal of the Japanese navy's mission refuelling warships supporting US-led forces in Afghanistan, an operation stalled by parliamentary opposition.
The talks were complicated by volatility in Japanese politics that had Bush dealing with the third prime minister in the past year and a half and has led to a parliamentary stalemate all but paralysing Fukuda's government.
Fukuda, 71, came to office in September after the surprise resignation of his predecessor, Shinzo Abe, with whom Bush had just started to forge a personal bond.
Standing shoulder to shoulder with Bush, Fukuda sought to allay any concerns he might waver on Japan's commitments to Washington. "I have come to this one and only ally for Japan, the United States of America," Fukuda said.
Seeking to paper over any differences, both leaders agreed on the need to keep the heat on North Korea to comply with its promise to disable its key nuclear plants by the end of 2007 and provide a list of all its nuclear arms activities.
"Hard work still remains to be done," Bush said. "Full declaration is one of the next steps North Korea must take to keep the six-party talks moving toward the goal of a Korean Peninsula without nuclear weapons."
Fukuda had been expected to raise Japanese opposition to the possible removal of North Korea from the US list of terrorism-sponsoring nations, a potential reward if Pyongyang disables its nuclear facilities as promised.
Japan wants Washington to wait until North Korea first comes clean about its abduction of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, a hot-button issue for Japanese voters.
While the leaders made no public mention of delisting, Bush said, "I understand, Mr Prime Minister, how important the issue (of the abductees) is to the Japanese people, and we will not forget the Japanese abductees nor their families."
The fate of at least 12 abductees has been at the centre of a long feud between Tokyo and Pyongyang that has kept them from normalising ties.
Also high on the agenda was Fukuda's assurance to Bush that he would press ahead with efforts to win parliamentary approval for restarting Japan's naval mission in support of US-led military operations in Afghanistan.
Legislation authorising Indian Ocean refuelling operations expired on November 1, and to the dismay of US policymakers Japan's opposition has so far blocked its renewal.
"We should never allow Afghanistan to once again become a hotbed for terrorism," Fukuda promised Bush.
The Bush administration has pressed Japan to play a larger role in global security, but the Japanese military has been constrained by the country's post-World War 2 pacifist constitution.
Fukuda's visit was low-key compared with those of his immediate predecessors - no Camp David talks like those held with Abe in April or tours of Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion like Bush gave to Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi.
Bush has met Fukuda once before - in Japan in 2005 while visiting Koizumi, with whom the president forged a close friendship. Fukuda was then Koizumi's chief cabinet secretary.
- REUTERS
