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Japan said to withdraw troops from Iraq
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-06-17 10:12 Japan will announce a plan to
pull out its ground troops from Iraq this month after the new Iraqi government
takes over security operations in Muthanna province, where Japanese troops are
stationed, the Asahi Shimbun said Saturday.
Over 500 members of the
Ground Self-Defense Force are stationed in Samawah of the province, performing a
humanitarian mission. Once the withdrawal starts, they would first move to
Kuwait within a month before returning home, the paper said, quoting government
sources.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is to announce the withdrawal
before June 29, when he visits Washington, according to Asahi.
"I think
that the situation is now being arranged to be able to pull out from Iraq
earlier," Foreign Minister Taro Aso is quoted as saying on Friday.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, Koizumi could announce the plan as
early as Wednesday, since the British government is expected to announce on
Tuesday the transfer of the security and administrative authority in Muthanna to
the Iraqi government.
In line with earlier reports, Japan's Kuwait-based
Air Self- Defense Forces (ASDF) is expected to continue transportation missions
around the region and assist the transfer of U.N. personnel and supplies in Iraq
even after the completion of the withdrawal of the ground troops.
Japan
has stationed ground troops in Samawah, southern Iraq for a non-combat
reconstruction mission since early 2004. Tokyo has repeatedly said that it would
have to carefully consider the situation in Iraq before deciding on a troop
pullout.
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