Tokyo  - Japan is highly likely to end its policy of logistical support for the US-led military operations in Afghanistan, new Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa indicated on Tuesday.

He said the government would not renew a law authorizing the mission to supply fuel and water to ships in the Indian Ocean when it expires in January.

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada also hinted at this policy change during an unannounced visit to Afghanistan and Pakistan at the weekend.

Japan is now considering alternative ways of supporting Afghanistan. Okada pledged continued support for reconstruction in Afghanistan but the new government has indicated it was not inclined to simply extend the refuelling mission.

A final decision on how the government is to proceed has still to be taken, ministry officials said.

Japan currently refuels US ships in the Indian Ocean but Japan's pacifist constitution rules out any combat involvement in Afghanistan.

The basis for the current operation is an anti-terror law passed in October 2001 which for the first time since World War II allowed Japanese participation in military operations abroad.

On the basis of this law Japan has sent navy ships to the Indian Ocean to provide logistical support for the anti-terror operations in and around Afghanistan.

The previous government extended the law several times. The then opposition party Democratic Party of Japan, which is now in power under Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, always rejected the mission, arguing that there was no authority for it from the United Nations.

No law to extend the operation is being discussed, Okada was quoted as saying by the Kyodo news agency. (dpa)