Defense Agency Director General Shigeru Ishiba indicated Sunday that Japanese troops may participate in a U.N. multinational force in Iraq under a new U.N. resolution.
He also said logistic support for maintaining public security differs from collective defense.
Participation in a multilateral force "would depend on how the new U.N. resolution turns out, but it's not to say that Japan cannot participate just because it is a multinational force," Ishiba said on a Fuji TV talk show.