Japanese troops may under certain conditions participate in a multinational force to be formed to keep order in Iraq based on a new U.N. resolution, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said Tuesday.
"We will make a decision based on concrete facts, including the duties, purpose and composition of the multinational force," Kawaguchi told the House of Councilors Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
The government interprets the Constitution as prohibiting the country from exercising the right of collective defense, although it holds this right under international law.
Joining a multinational force on a mission to maintain security has thus far been considered exercising this right.
Ground Self-Defense Force troops were deployed to the southern Iraqi city of Samawah under a special law permitting the deployment.