"We welcome this significant progress in counter-terrorism measures, and I pay respect to the efforts by the officials concerned, including those in the United States and Pakistan," said Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

"As a responsible member of the international community, we will continue being thorough in our anti-terrorism measures and making active and responsible contributions to its efforts."

However we warned that "the threat of terrorism is still serious".

He said Japan was taking measures to ensure security at its air and sea ports and the safety of Japanese nationals at home and abroad.

Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto, speaking earlier in Paris, praised "the outcome of long years of fights against terror towards the prevention and elimination of international terrorism" by the US and others.

"Japan has also been actively participating in the endeavour to eliminate terrorism, including its cooperation with Afghanistan and Pakistan."

Matsumoto also cautioned that "while his death was confirmed, it does not mean that terrorism was eliminated."

"In Afghanistan and Pakistan, acts of terrorism have continued to occur, and the threat of terrorism is serious. This is not the end of the story."

Looking forward, the minister said, "it is necessary to keep close eyes on the activities of Al-Qaeda, with the international community cooperating closely, and addressing the matter steadfastly."

Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, meanwhile, was quoted by Jiji Press as saying that the country's Self-Defense Forces would increase security.

"It is not easy to presume what kind of retaliation may follow, but we will increase the number of security patrols at Self-Defense Forces posts and bases," he told a regular press conference.

Japan, a key US ally for the past half-century, hosts almost 50,000 American troops and from 2001 until 2010 ran a naval refuelling mission in the Indian Ocean that supported the US-led military effort in Afghanistan.

A declared pacifist nation since the end of World War II, Japan has not joined combat operations in Afghanistan or elsewhere, although it has sent non-combat troops to Iraq and on UN peacekeeping missions.

Relations between Tokyo and Washington hit a rocky patch in 2009 when a new centre-left government in Japan said it might seek to close a US base on southern Okinawa island, a position that it later reversed.

Both sides have since been at pains to stress the strength of their alliance, which has received a boost from a massive relief effort by US forces after Japan's March 11 quake, tsunami and nuclear emergency.

Japan has been a major donor for Afghanistan, pledging $5 billion over five years from 2010 to help rebuild the war-torn nation.

Matsumoto said in Paris that "the reconstruction of Afghanistan should be addressed. Japan continues to actively contribute to counter-terrorism measures as a member of the international community."

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