Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed unequivocal support Tuesday for U.S. plans to forcibly disarm Iraq.
Koizumi had kept silent on whether Japan would back a U.S.-led war against Iraq without United Nations authorization.
The prime minister made his position clear after President George W. Bush informed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in a speech from the White House that he had 48 hours to go into exile or face war.