Japan to announce in March Iraq pull-out: report
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-02-26 09:18

TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will announce as soon as next month a decision to pull troops out of Iraq between April and June, a report said.

The withdrawal of Ground Self Defense Force troops from the southern Iraqi city of Samawa is expected to be made in two stages, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said without citing sources.

Japanese soldier secures an area in the southern city of Samawa as others soldiers inspect the last phase of the construction of al-Mutawaq Bridge (background) on 16 February. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will announce as soon as next month a decision to pull troops out of Iraq between April and June, a report said.[AFP]

The reported move, if realized, would end Tokyo's first military deployment since World War II to a country where fighting is ongoing.

Meanwhile, the government will likely have the roughly 200 Air Self Defense Force personnel continue carrying out transport operations, based in Kuwait, for multinational forces, the Nihon Keizai said.

A spokesman at the Japan Defense Agency declined to comment on the report.

Japanese foreign ministry and defense agency officials on Friday entered into talks in London with their counterparts from the United States, Britain and Australia to pave the way for the withdrawal of the ground troops, the Nihon Keizai said.

Japan's pullout plans will be hammered out at security talks slated for mid-March in Sydney with the United States and Australia, the newspaper said.

The 600-odd soldiers are on a humanitarian mission in Samawa.

The troops, who are banned from using their weapons under Japan's pacifist constitution, have suffered no casualties during their humanitarian assistance mission.

Britain and Australia have already informed Japan of their plans to start pulling out troops in southern Iraq as early as May, the Nihon Keizai said.

The Japanese government intends to take a similar step now that its Iraq reconstruction assistance has almost fulfilled its purpose, the newspaper said.

The government will hold security conference and extraordinary cabinet meetings as soon as late March to revise the basic plan concerning the troops' activities in Iraq, it said.

Last December, Japan extended its Iraq mission by another year.

Most Japanese oppose the deployment to Samawa, despite it being considered a relatively safe area within Iraq.