Japan intends to survive Iraq

2004-02-05 09:32

Tokyo - The men have moustaches and the women cover their hair with headscarves. Alcohol is banned on their base, and pork-eating is off-limits.

The Japanese troops headed to Iraq have their orders: blend in with the locals.

Tokyo this week began sending ground troops for a humanitarian mission in Iraq. With concerns high at home that the soldiers will be targeted for attack, military leaders are urging their ranks to be as inconspicuous as possible.

"We studied Iraq's customs, culture and religion as much as we could," Defence Agency Director Shigeru Ishiba told Parliament on Thursday. "Everyone who serves there must respect Islamic culture and religion." On the Japanese base to be constructed in the southern city of Samawah, alcohol and pork will be prohibited in deference to Islamic customs, an agency official said on condition of anonymity.

The moustaches were suggested because facial hair is more common in Iraq than in Japan.

While the Japanese soldiers will carry weapons, their mission is to carry out non-combat tasks such as purifying water. The military has gone to great pains to present the deployment as a non-threatening helping hand.

Japanese TV regularly shows footage of mission leader Colonel Masahisa Sato - sporting a robust moustache - shaking hands and chatting animatedly with locals in Samawah. Japanese armed personnel carriers have "Japan" written on them in English and Arabic.

Advance teams have already been dispatched to Iraq, and about 90 ground troops arrived this week in Kuwait for training before heading to Samawah. The total deployment is expected to reach about a thousand ground, sea and air personnel by early spring.

Though they are making allowances for local customs, Japan's soldiers won't be leaving behind all the amenities of home. The base in Samawah is expected to have a gym, a massage parlour and a library among other facilities, Japanese media reports say.

And practicalities have stopped the soldiers from sprouting full-grown beards.

"That would interfere with their gas masks," the Defence Agency official said.

- AP