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[February 26, 2006]

U.S. asks Japan to send GSDF officers to Basra to take up new duty+

(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)WASHINGTON, Feb. 26_(Kyodo) _ The United States has asked Japan to consider having senior ground troop officers transferred to Basra in southern Iraq to take part in a new reconstruction project there after Japanese troops' withdrawal from Samawah, diplomatic sources said Sunday.


Washington has been proposing since last fall that Tokyo transfer its Ground Self-Defense Force troops from the southern Iraqi city of Samawah to elsewhere in the country to take part in U.S. provincial reconstruction teams, but this is the first time for Washington to cite the name of a specific city.

But Japan has remained reluctant to join the teams -- civil-military joint units deployed in Iraqi regions to improve Iraq's social infrastructure as well as to strengthen administrative, police and security capabilities there.

It maintains a cautious stance as participation in such teams is not included in the special law for assistance in reconstruction of Iraq, which is the basis of the Japanese troops' assignment to the country, senior officials at the Japanese Defense Agency said.

But the diplomatic sources told Kyodo News that the Japanese government is still discussing the issue as it considers that the proposal is now virtually a "strong request" from the U.S. government.

The latest proposal apparently reflects Washington's desire to maintain the current multilateral cooperation framework for Iraqi reconstruction even as many countries are expected to withdraw their troops from Iraq in 2006 though displays of anti-U.S. military sentiment show no signs of abating.

The sources said the U.S. government has unofficially asked Japan through a diplomatic channel to consider dispatching senior GSDF officers to Basra, saying security in the city, where the British troops are stationed, is stable.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government has also asked that Japan's Air Self-Defense Force expand the range of activities in airlift support in Iraq to fly not only to Samawah but also to other places including Baghdad, according to the sources. The security of Baghdad is still unstable.

The ASDF currently stations three C-130 transport planes in Kuwait to mainly deliver supplies to Japan's GSDF troops involved in the noncombat reconstruction mission in Samawah.

Japanese government sources said earlier that Washington is asking Japan to expand the ASDF mission to include operations such as airlifting U.S. soldiers and supplies to and from U.S. bases in Iraq.

The diplomatic sources also said the United States and Japan are discussing the fate of senior GSDF officers who are now serving at the Japanese Embassy in Baghdad after the GSDF's planned pullout in May, with a view to appointing them as the members of the U.S.-led coalition forces command.

Japan has already decided to let five senior GSDF members in Baghdad remain there to serve as liaisons with the coalition even after the troops' pullout.

If they become coalition command staff members, the government will be required to revise its basic plan adopted based on the special law on assistance to the reconstruction of Iraq.

Japan is planning to withdraw its GSDF troops in Iraq, now totaling about 600, as early as May along with pullouts by British and Australian forces, which are in charge of security in the same area.

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