500 to 700 Ground Troops to Be Sent to Iraq

Japan plans to dispatch between 500 and 700 personnel from the Ground Self-Defense Force to areas centering around Al-Muthanna province in southeastern Iraq, which include the city of Samawah, government officials told ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers Monday.

The officials disclosed the contents of the government's basic plan for the SDF dispatch to a meeting of LDP lawmakers. It is to be approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday.

The officials did not disclose the specific timing of the dispatch or the conditions under which Japan would withdraw its troops.

The government's vague stance apparently reflects its politically difficult position: Foreign soldiers in Iraq have died almost daily in guerrilla attacks while Japan has sat on the sidelines, drawing pressure to show its commitment to the U.S.-led war against terrorism by sending Japanese troops to help out.

The ruling LDP approved the basic plan during the meeting, although many of them criticized the government for failing to provide sufficient information to dispel voters' concerns.

According to the officials, the period of the troops' operation will be from six to 12 months. But they added it is hard to say when and under what conditions Japan would withdraw the troops.

"Many countries are engaged in supporting the reconstruction efforts. It's very difficult at the moment to predict when (the SDF mission) will end," one of the government officials said. According to a government document distributed at the meeting, the GSDF will provide humanitarian assistance, including medical services, water supply and repair of public facilities, such as schools and hospitals.

The document also describes a variety of weapons GSDF troops will carry to defend themselves. These include handguns, automatic rifles, machineguns, recoilless guns and portable antitank rocket launchers.

They will be the SDF's most heavily armed overseas mission ever. The SDF's use of weapons is strictly limited to self-defense by laws and the war-renouncing Constitution.

The government will also dispatch seven to eight aircraft of the Air Self-Defense Force, including four C-130 military transport planes, to help transport humanitarian aid materials between Kuwait and Iraq, the government officials said.

Five to six ships of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, including transport ships and destroyers, will be sent, they said.

Under a special law that enables the SDF dispatch to Iraq, the government is allowed to send the SDF only to "noncombat zones."

At the meeting, many LDP members questioned how the government will differentiate between "combat zones" and "noncombat zones."

But the government officials avoided answering them, saying they believe "there should be some areas" in southeastern Iraq where the SDF can be sent.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told a meeting of top government officials and ruling party executives that he had "reached a conclusion after a comprehensive assessment that Japan needs to make a personnel contribution, including dispatching SDF units," according to Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda.

New Komeito leader Takenori Kanzaki meanwhile said he and Koizumi will meet again to convey New Komeito's stance about the dispatch plan.

The meeting will be held Tuesday before the Cabinet holds an extraordinary meeting to approve the plan, a government source said.

New Komeito, a coalition partner of the LDP, has been taking a cautious stance in deciding the timing of the dispatch, although it does not oppose the actual dispatch.

The government also announced Monday it plans to send four special envoys overseas in mid-December to explain the dispatch plan.

The four are former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, who will go to Britain, France and Germany; former Foreign Minister Taro Nakayama, who will go to the United Nations headquarters in New York; former Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, who will go to Egypt and Saudi Arabia; and Senior Vice Foreign Minister Ichiro Aisawa, who will go to Syria, Kuwait and Jordan.

NGO against SDF

Staff report

The head of a volunteer aid group warned Monday that sending Self-Defense Forces troops to Iraq could put nongovernmental Japanese aid workers there in greater danger.

Michiya Kumaoka, president of the Japan International Volunteer Center, said participation of the SDF, a military force, in humanitarian aid projects in Iraq could undermine the neutrality of those efforts.

Even if the SDF is to take part in the reconstruction of Iraq, it may appear to local people that Japan is supporting the United States-led occupation of the country, Kumaoka said.