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Iraqi Foreign Minister Zebari says pullout
of forces will lead to violence
26.11.2005
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TOKYO, - Iraqi
Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari urged Japan on
Friday to keep its troops in southern Iraq, saying
an early pullout of coalition forces would lead to
more violence by insurgents.
Zebari said his war-torn country had made progress
on improving security, but added it faced a crucial
period ahead of the Dec. 15 parliamentary election.
"The difficult part has gone in my view. We're very
close to reaching a more stable form of government
and of security," Zebari told a news conference
following a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi.
"Now, any premature withdrawal will send the wrong
message to the terrorists, to the opposition ...
that this coalition is fracturing and running, that
their policies and strategies of undermining this
process is winning." |
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari - Photo: AP |
He said he could not give a time frame for when the
coalition forces would be able to leave Iraq, but
added that it would be at least months after the new
Iraqi government was formed.
U.S. defence officials said this week that the
Pentagon planned to reduce the number of U.S. troops
in Iraq, currently 155,000, to about 138,000 after
next month's election. This could be reduced further
to about 100,000 next summer if conditions allowed.
Zebari said Koizumi was aware of the need for the
international community to remain committed to Iraq,
and added he believed Tokyo would decide in the next
"few days or few weeks" on whether to extend the
mandate of its troops deployed in Iraq.
Koizumi later told reporters Tokyo would consider
what steps it could take to help out the Iraqi
people, but did not say whether it would keep its
military.
"I would like to continue to think about what kind
of aid Japan can provide for Iraq's
country-building," Koizumi said.
Japan has sent some 550 ground troops to Samawa in
southern Iraq to provide humanitarian and
reconstruction aid, but the mission expires on Dec.
14.
While the troops do not take part in operations to
maintain security, the deployment is the country's
first significant overseas military mission since
World War Two.
The dispatch, first approved in 2003, won praise
from Washington, but is opposed by the majority of
Japanese. In a Mainichi newspaper poll published in
October, 77 percent of those surveyed said they were
opposed to an extension.
The Asahi newspaper reported this month that Japan
was considering withdrawing its troops from Iraq
starting from the first half of next year and
completing the process by September.
Reuters
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