TOKYO — Japan’s
defense minister ordered the nation’s naval ships to return from the
Indian Ocean on Friday, fulfilling a pledge by his government to end an
eight-year refueling mission in support of the war in Afghanistan.
A
destroyer and a supply ship that had been refueling American and other
warships are to head home at midnight, when a special law authorizing
the mission expires. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
refused to renew the law, ignoring requests from the Obama
administration to continue the mission as a show of diplomatic support
for …