Japan plans to send a 10-member Air Self-Defense Force advance team to Qatar and Kuwait on Dec. 25 under a special law that allows for the dispatch of Japanese troops to aid the reconstruction of Iraq, according to government sources.
The government will outline the details of the ASDF team's activities next Wednesday or Thursday, to be followed by Defense Agency Director General Shigeru Ishiba's official dispatch order on Dec. 19.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced Japan's decision to send noncombat troops to Iraq, but did not specify a date for their dispatch.
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