It did not help that he appeared to backtrack somewhat a day later.

Rather than quell uneasiness in his own party, Mr Abe's conflicting remarks only added to the confusion.

When Parliament meets today to debate his policy speech, lawmakers can be expected to quiz Mr Abe on the real intent behind his remarks in Sydney when he said he would tackle the issue 'at the risk of my position'.

He had said: 'I have no intention of clinging on to my position.'

It is now understood that Mr Abe had made the comments without consulting top executives of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

LDP secretary-general Taro Aso was reported to have told his aides after Mr Abe's remarks: 'Don't panic. It is only an expression of the Prime Minister's feeling that he badly wants to carry on the refuelling activities.'

Japan's military, the Self-Defence Force (SDF), has been supplying fuel to naval ships in the Indian Ocean since 2001 in aid of the US-led operations in Afghanistan. The special anti-terrorism law that mandated the mission will end on Nov 1, after having been extended three times.

True enough, Mr Abe told reporters on Monday evening that they should treat his remarks in Sydney at face value.

'I made the remarks with the determination to stake my job on, and deal with, the issue with the utmost effort,' he said.

Quizzed by reporters later about his conflicting comments, Mr Abe alluded to the fact that he never explicitly said he would resign, saying: 'I believe that is how the respective media organisations understood it.'

Political analyst and Waseda University professor Yasuhiro Tase said he did not believe that Mr Abe would quit over the issue.

'If he had made such a big effort to stay on as Prime Minister after the July Upper House election debacle, why would he want to quit over a much smaller matter like this?' the former veteran political reporter pointed out.

Mr Abe's ruling coalition lost its majority in the Upper House to the main opposition Democratic Party (DPJ) and its partners in the July polls, following a raft of scandals and gaffes involving his ministers.

The DPJ says it will block any Bill extending the refuelling mission during the two-month extraordinary parliament session that opened on Monday.

However, Mr Abe said yesterday that the ruling coalition planned to submit a Bill to enact a new law, rather than extend existing legislation, to sustain the SDF mission.

The Bill will limit the mission to refuelling activities. Current legislation allows Japanese vessels to conduct rescue and relief missions for foreign forces.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yosano has indicated that even if the new law cannot be enacted before Nov 1 - thereby requiring the SDF to withdraw from the Indian Ocean - Mr Abe need not step down as long as refuelling can resume later.

But it is not clear how the ruling coalition would be able to overcome the DPJ's chief objection that the mission is not sanctioned by the United Nations and breaches Japan's pacifist Constitution.

A Bill that is killed in the Upper House can be put to a re-vote in the Lower House, where it can pass into law if approved by a two-thirds majority.

Despite bringing in party veterans to take up key Cabinet posts in a reshuffle last month, Mr Abe has been hit by fresh financial scandals implicating his ministers.

A poll published yesterday by the Yomiuri newspaper found that only about 29 per cent of respondents said they supported Mr Abe.

And there is growing unhappiness with the Premier even within his own party, with 15 of 47 local LDP chapters saying he should go, according to a separate poll by Jiji Press.

wengkin@sph.com.sg