Japan to keep troops in Iraq
Italy’s possible scale-down of its troops in Iraq will have no effect on Japan’s deployment of 550 troops in the country, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said today.
“Italy is Italy, Japan is Japan,” Koizumi told reporters when asked if the prospect of a pullout by Rome could lead to a similar move by Tokyo.
Japan has been a vocal supporter of the US-led military mission in Iraq and has dispatched 550 troop to the southern city of Samawah on a humanitarian operation in support of reconstruction.
Late yesterday, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Italy would start cutting back its troops in Iraq in September if security conditions in Iraq permit.
Opposition to the deployment has been rising in Italy since the recent slayings by American soldiers of an Italian intelligence agent in Baghdad.
Japanese officials, however, indicated that Tokyo would remain in the US coalition, though Japan’s troops are strictly non-combat and are based in a relatively calm part of Iraq.
Asked if Japan wants to switch to employing more civilians in Iraq instead of military troops once Iraq is stabilised, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said that the troops would remain there for the moment.
“It’s important for us to expand reconstruction and humanitarian works there and I think we will do those eventually,” he said. “At this point, however, I don’t think we’ve reached that stage yet.”
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