The Japanese Embassy in Baghdad has asked Japanese nationals to refrain from visiting it for the time being after receiving threats of attack, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Wednesday.

But he added that the threats were not specifically terrorist-related.

"(The information received) was not a specific warning of any terrorist attack, but (more like a general) threat," Fukuda told a regular news conference. "In response, we issued a warning (to Japanese citizens)."

On Tuesday, the embassy sent an urgent e-mail to Japanese citizens still in the country -- mostly members of the media -- urging them not to go near the compound for the time being.

Government officials in Tokyo also said it was not a direct warning from a specific terrorist group, such as al-Qaeda, but noted that "several pieces of information regarding threats" have been reported to the embassy.

Officials declined further comment on the nature of the information or where Japan received it.

"We took precautionary measures at this time, just after (former Iraqi President Saddam) Hussein was captured," Fukuda said. "Under the current circumstances, (Japanese in Iraq) should be very careful."

Shots were fired at the embassy in November, and two Japanese diplomats from the mission were assassinated in an ambush in northern Iraq later that month.

Al-Qaeda also issued a threat to attack "the heart of Tokyo" if Japan sends Self-Defense Forces units to Iraq.

Egypt assured on SDF

CAIRO (Kyodo) When deployed to Iraq, Self-Defense Forces personnel will not exercise military force or engage in peacekeeping activities, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's special envoy told Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday.

Former Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura explained Japan's policy to the Egyptian president after handing him a letter from Koizumi.