Japan will send Self-Defense Forces units to Iraq before the end of the year, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Wednesday, the first clear public statement from the government regarding the timing of the controversial dispatch.
"We have a firm idea about dispatching (troops) by the end of the year," Fukuda told a regular news conference when asked if the government still intends to send military personnel by year's end despite the deteriorating security situation in Iraq.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters the same day that an SDF dispatch by year's end will be possible "if the situation allows."
Fukuda apparently made the comment in order to play down speculation that the SDF mission will be delayed for a long period of time, as the Cabinet's approval of a basic plan for the dispatch will be postponed until after the end of next week's special Diet session.
The United States has been sending overtures to Japan that it wants the SDF in Iraq by the end of the year. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is to make a three-day visit to Japan from Friday to discuss Iraq and other security issues.
Fukuda also said an SDF team to coordinate with occupation authorities and prepare for the SDF troops' activities will be sent to Iraq before long.
Attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq continue, but Fukuda insisted there will be "many safe places where (SDF units) can work on humanitarian and reconstruction assistance."