Iraq asks Japan asked to extend troop deployment
Iraq’s foreign minister today asked Japan’s premier and its defence chief to extend Tokyo’s deployment of about 600 troops to southern Iraq.
Hoshya Zebari, who arrived in Japan on Wednesday, petitioned Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in an afternoon meeting and made a similar request earlier in the day to Defence Chief Fukushiro Nukaga.
“We have been assured by the prime minister... that Japan will continue its assistance and commitment to help the Iraqi people build a democratic form of government,” Kyodo News agency quoted Zebari as saying.
Zebari did not elaborate on what form that assistance would take.
“He understands that it’s a decision the Japanese government will make later,” Koizumi spokesman Yu Kameoka said.
Koizumi, who favours a more active role for Japan in international security, has suggested that Japan’s efforts in Iraq aren’t finished. Last month, Japan approved a one-year extension of its naval mission to support US-led troops in Afghanistan.
During his meeting with Nukaga, Zebari repeated his country’s request that Japan extend its dispatch of about 600 non-combat troops to the southern Iraqi city of Samawah, where they have been conducting humanitarian projects.
The mission expires on December 14, but Tokyo hasn’t decided whether to renew it.
Nukaga said that Japan is “proud” of the work its forces have done there, including purifying water and rebuilding schools. But Nukaga did not make commitments about a possible extension, a Defence Agency official said.
A day earlier, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso told Zebari that Japan would decide soon on whether to extend the mission, giving consideration to Japan’s “international responsibilities and the state of reconstruction work.”
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