Japan to send troops to Iraq

Friday, July 25, 2003 - 07:16 PM

Japan's parliament tonight approved a bill that authorises sending troops to help with the reconstruction of Iraq.

The opposition had attempted delaying targets that at one point deteriorated into a wild shoving match during a committee meeting.

It was a major political victory for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who has campaigned hard to send peacekeeping troops overseas as he seeks to raise Japan's profile on the world stage and distance his administration from the "chequebook diplomacy" for which the world's second-richest nation was criticised during the 1991 Gulf War.

Opposition parties attacked the legislation, saying such peacekeeping missions could violate Japan's pacifist constitution and put its troops in the line of enemy fire.

The legislation appeared headed for approval after it passed an upper house committee with support from Koizumi's three-party coalition, which controls a majority in both chambers of Parliament.

The full 247-seat upper house convened after midnight (local time), and the ruling coalition won approval for the bill.

Japanese military planners are reportedly considering sending a contingent of up to 1,000 combat engineers and other troops for transport and construction duties.

Small Japanese military contingents have participated in several UN peacekeeping operations since 1992, most recently in East Timor.