Japan to pull out of Iraq

2006-06-20 08:26

Tokyo - Japan ordered the withdrawal of its ground troops from Iraq on Tuesday, declaring the humanitarian mission a success and ending a groundbreaking dispatch that tested the limits of its pacifist post-war constitution.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said the troops - deployed in early 2004 - had helped rebuild the infrastructure of the area where they were based, and he pledged further aid to Iraqi reconstruction.

"Today we have decided to withdraw ground self-defence forces from the Samawah region in Iraq," Koizumi said in a nationally televised news conference.

"The humanitarian dispatch ... has achieved its mission."

Continued support

He offered no timetable for the withdrawal, but defence chief Fukushiro Nukaga told reporters earlier in the day that the pullout would take "several dozen days".

Koizumi has been a vocal supporter of US policy in Iraq, arguing that the dispatch was needed to aid reconstruction, secure oil supplies and bolster ties with Washington. He is to travel to Washington for a summit with President George W Bush the last week in June, before stepping down in September.

Japan will now consider expanding air self-defence operations in Iraq to include transport of medical supplies and UN personnel, following a request from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said Takenori Kanzaki, head of the ruling party's coalition partner, the New Komei Party.

"Even after the withdrawal from Iraq, we must continue the efforts to support Iraq," he told reporters.

Kidnaps

Japan has about 600 troops in the city of Samawah in southern Iraq. Although the mission is strictly non-combat and humanitarian, the deployment in early 2004 broke new ground as a symbol of Tokyo's more assertive military policy.

Polls showed half or more of the Japanese public opposed the dispatch, and many were concerned about the safety of troops in Iraq and the possibility that the dispatch would make Japan a target of terrorists.

While no Japanese soldiers suffered casualties, other citizens in Iraq were targeted by militants demanding a Japanese withdrawal. Seven Japanese have been kidnapped in Iraq since the dispatch, and two of them were killed.

Throughout, Koizumi was steadfast in his insistence on continuing the dispatch, despite polls that showed most Japanese were against it.

- AP