Japan delays Iraq pullout decision
(AP)
Updated: 2006-06-19 13:44
Top Japanese officials delayed a decision Monday on when to withdraw Tokyo's
troops from southern Iraq, pending the transfer of security in the region to
Iraqi authorities, officials said.
Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Aso, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe and
Defense chief Fukushiro Nukaga met to discuss Iraq amid speculation Tokyo will
soon announce a withdrawal of its 600 troops in Samawah.
The group agreed a decision on the timing of a withdrawal would have to wait
for Iraqi moves to take over security responsibilities in the area from the
British, Nukaga said.
"We have to wait and see the outcome of an Iraqi government security
meeting," he told a group of reporters after meeting with Aso and Abe.
Japan dispatched troops to Samawah in southern Iraq in early 2004 on a
strictly non-combat, humanitarian mission. British and Australian soldiers are
providing security in the area, but they are widely expected to withdraw.
Japan's post-World War II constitution limits the military's actions
overseas, and a British withdrawal from the area would likely prompt a similar
move by the Japanese.
Kyodo News agency reported that Britain could announce a withdrawal as early
as Tuesday, and that Japan would follow that with an announcement its own
pullout on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, a vocal supporter of the U.S.-led military
action in Iraq, is scheduled to hold a summit with President Bush in Washington
the last week in June.
Kyodo quoted Aso as saying that Japan could start withdrawing its troops
before the summit.
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