Japan's Iraq Presence to Depend on Report

[maddezmom]

TOKYO - Japan won't decide whether to extend its military's humanitarian mission in Iraq (news - web sites) until after the defense chief reports on his weekend visit to the war-ravaged country, a government spokesman said Monday.


Defense Agency chief Yoshinori Ono returned to Tokyo late Monday after visiting the Japanese military base in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah, where about 550 troops have been rebuilding roads and schools and supplying residents with clean water. Their mandate expires Dec. 14, and the government hasn't said whether the troops will stay.


Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Ono also held talks with the governor of al-Muthanna province, where Samawah is located, and the head of Dutch forces, which have been helping protect the Japanese base.


"We want to decide after hearing about those meetings," Hosoda said of Tokyo's dispatch plans. Government officials would also receive a report from two senior ruling bloc politicians who were in Kuwait and expected to head to Samawah before returning to Tokyo on Wednesday, he added.

more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=516&ncid=731&e=1&u=/ap/20041206/ap_on_re_as/japan_iraq