Japan ends milestone Iraq military mission

An Iraqi firefighter douses fire at the site where a car bomb exploded in a market in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood yesterday. At least 3 people were killed in the blast despite a massive security crackdown. PHOTO: AFP

The pullout brings closure to one of the signature but domestically unpopular policies of outgoing Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, which was seen as a way to exert Japanese influence beyond that of an economic power.

"After closely consulting with the United States, the multinational forces, Britain and Australia, I made the decision because I judged that the humanitarian mission has completed a certain achievement in the region," Koizumi, who steps down in September, told a news conference.

The troops were given immediate orders to arrange for their withdrawal, defense chief Fukushiro Nukaga said. Media reports said the last troops were expected to return by late July.

But Nukaga said the Japanese air force would remain active in Iraq, transporting goods and personnel to Baghdad for the US-led coalition.

The troop mission, which has helped reconstruct the relatively peaceful area around the southern city of Samawa since January 2004, is the first of its kind since Japan was forced by the United States to renounce war after World War II.

Due to its 1947 constitution, Japan relies on British and Australian troops for protection in Iraq as its own troops are barred from using force.

The troops have suffered no casualties and never even fired their state-of-the-art weapons.

But the military mission has still been criticized by China, which is haunted by Japan's past aggression, and opposed by a majority of the public in opinion polls.

Koizumi's government has broken other post-war taboos. It has proposed a revision of the constitution to recognize that Japan has a military, and not the euphemistically named Self-Defense Forces.

"Including this deployment, the activities of the Self-Defense Forces around the world have helped improve Japan's brand image," Foreign Minister Taro Aso said.

Iraqi troops will next month take over security from the coalition in Muthanna province which includes Samawa -- the first such transfer of power since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein's dictatorship.