Japan demands ship safety, before protesters freed

By Rob Taylor

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Japanese whalers and protesters in the icy Southern Ocean charged each other with "terrorism and piracy" on Wednesday, as two activists remained locked up on a Japanese ship after boarding the vessel in a protest action.

Whaling has halted while the two men are being held on board and will not re-start until they have been handed over, Japanese Fisheries Agency official Takahide Naruko told reporters.

Naruko, head of the agency's Far Seas division, declined to say how many whales had been taken before the suspension.

The whalers said they would only release the two men if the militant Sea Shepherd Conservation Group promised not to take any "violent action" against their ship and keep the protest ship Steve Irwin 10 nautical miles from the whaler Yushin Maru No.2.

Steve Irwin captain Paul Watson, who last year threatened to ram the Japanese flagship and collided with a whale hunter, rejected the conditions.

"Using hostages to make demands is the hallmark of terrorism and Sea Shepherd has no interest in negotiating with terrorist groups," Watson said in a statement. "The hostages must be released unconditionally."

Australia's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said in a statement: "Neither captain involved should set conditions on the return beyond those necessary to ensure the safe return of the two men."

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said he did not expect the incident to have any effect on diplomatic relations.