TOKYO - Frustrated by a deadlock between feuding sides in the International Whaling Commission, Japan -- which is determined to resume commercial whaling -- on Thursday made a veiled threat to leave the group. Japan and like-minded nations on Thursday ended a special meeting in Tokyo that they hoped would build momentum to resume commercial whale hunts, shifting the IWC's focus to management from moratorium. Thirty-seven of the 72 IWC members took part. Hours before, Japan's flagship whaling vessel, the Nisshin Maru, caught fire off the coast of Antarctica, leaving one crew member missing. The three-day meeting, which Japanese officials had termed a final attempt to save the IWC, was marred by a boycott by 26 anti-whaling nations, prompting criticism that they had chosen confrontation over dialogue and the need to restore trust.
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