Japan Launches New Bid To Tackle Pirates

Japan is hoping to get an anti-piracy bill passed into law to allow the country's two destroyers off Somalia wider scope to use force.The Japanese government last month joined the US, Chinaand other countries in the maritime operation against pirates who have attacked ships in the Gulf of Aden, a key shipping route leading to the Suez Canal.Because of limits on Japan's military - imposed under the post-World War II pacifist constitution - the destroyers cannot use force, except in self-defence or to protect the country's interests.