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Zebari urged Japan to continue its aid
mission
24.11.2005
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TOKYO, Nov 24
(Reuters) - Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari
urged Japan on Thursday to continue its deployment
of several hundred ground troops to Samawa in
southern Iraq to help rebuild the war-torn country.
The troops' current mandate expires on Dec. 14, a
day ahead of Iraq's parliamentary election.
"Naturally, the time will eventually come for the
multinational forces including Japan's Self-Defence
Forces to end their activities," Zebari told
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso, according to
Japanese Foreign Ministry officials.
"We are at a crucial period now and we need their
continued engagement."
In his reply, Aso said Tokyo would make a decision
"soon" on whether to extend the mandate. |
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari - Photo: AP |
Japan has sent some 550 ground troops to Samawa in
southern Iraq to provide reconstruction aid -- the
country's first significant overseas military
mission since World War Two.
Japan's deployment of military personnel, first
approved in 2003, helped cement close ties between
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and U.S.
President George W. Bush, though the troops are
limited to humanitarian and reconstruction
activities under Japan's pacifist constitution.
The Asahi newspaper reported last week that Japan
was considering beginning to withdraw its troops
from Iraq in the first half of next year and
completing the process by September. Japanese
government officials said no decision had been made.
In a Mainichi newspaper poll published in October,
77 percent of those surveyed said they were opposed
to an extension.
U.S. defence officials said on Wednesday the
Pentagon plans to shrink the U.S. troop presence in
Iraq, currently 155,000, to about 138,000 after the
Dec. 15 Iraqi election and is considering dropping
the number to about 100,000 next summer if
conditions allow.
Reuters
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