A visiting Iraqi Cabinet member asked Japan in a meeting with Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura on Monday to extend the Self-Defense Forces' humanitarian and reconstruction mission in southern Iraq beyond the current deadline of mid-December.
"I can tell you . . . how important it is to continue during the upcoming important period of Iraqi history when the first national election will take place and the first independent national assembly and government will be appointed," Municipalities and Public Works Minister Nisreen Berwari told reporters in English after her meeting with Machimura.
"We discussed the issue of the continuation of the Japanese government's Self-Defense Forces operation in Iraq. As you know, the Iraqi government has officially requested the Japanese government for the extension of that mission," she said.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari made the same pitch when he got together with Machimura for meeting in New York in mid-September.
Machimura, during his talks with Berwari at the Foreign Ministry, reiterated Japan's position on how it will determine whether to maintain the troop deployment, an official said.
The foreign minister said Tokyo will closely observe how the political process in Iraq develops, the state of reconstruction in the country and trends within the international community.
Iraq plans to hold the election Dec. 15.
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