6TH LD: Japan orders ground troop pullout from Iraq, to expand airlift aid

TOKYO, June 20 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH FRESH INFO)

Japan on Tuesday ordered the withdrawal of its ground troops from Iraq, ending their landmark two-and-a-half-year reconstruction aid mission there, but will expand airlifting assistance by its air troops for United Nations and multinational forces.

''The Ground Self-Defense Force has played a considerable role in humanitarian reconstruction assistance and we have decided to withdraw,'' Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said, adding the decision was made after consulting the U.S. forces and other allies in light of the handover of security responsibilities to the Iraqis.

Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga immediately issued an order for withdrawal, saying at a separate news conference, ''I am very glad that over the past two-and-a-half years, a total of 5,500 GSDF members were able to carry out safe and sound their mission to help reconstruct Iraq.''

The troops were the largest overseas GSDF deployment and were dispatched over 10 contingents on three-month rotations since February 2004 following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Though strictly limited to noncombat activities, the mission reflected Tokyo's ambition for the Self-Defense Force to play a more active role in international activities and for a more visible Japanese presence, after feeling that its massive financial contributions during the Gulf War went underappreciated.

But neither Koizumi nor Nukaga specified a timeline for returning the current 600-member contingent home from the southern Iraqi city of Samawah, about 250 kilometers southeast of Baghdad.

Gen. Hajime Massaki, chief of staff of the SDF's Joint Staff Office, said it is expected to take one to one-and-a-half months for the troops to move from Iraq to Kuwait, though the actual period will depend on weather and security conditions.

''We still have the last difficult operation left so we cannot let our guard down,'' Massaki said, referring to the withdrawal.

In another development, a Kuwait-based Air Self-Defense Force wing will expand its airlifting for U.N. personnel and U.S.-led multinational forces to include flights to Baghdad and Erbil, Koizumi said in a statement.

The premier said the GSDF ''fulfilled their mission'' in providing medical and reconstruction aid, and pledged to continue helping Iraq by extending official development assistance.

But Koizumi said he has no plans to visit Iraq, citing security issues.

''I am glad that the mission can be completed without one bullet being fired and with not one person injured,'' Koizumi was quoted by coalition partner New Komeito party leader Takenori Kanzaki as saying when they met earlier in the morning

Kanzaki said he consented, in principle, to the withdrawal and ''expressed understanding'' for the need to continue ASDF activities in Iraq. But he also requested that the government ensure the safety of the troops during the process, he said.

Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima and Japanese Communist Party leader Kazuo Shii of the opposition camp both expressed concern over the plan to expand ASDF activities in Iraq.

Ichiro Ozawa, president of the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan, boycotted Koizumi's meeting with opposition leaders, criticizing it as his attempt to make it seem as if the decision was made with the consensus of all party leaders.

For its part, Iraq expressed gratitude via its ambassador in Tokyo for Japan's aid mission and its vow to continue support for Iraq's reconstruction efforts.

The deployment to Iraq has been seen as symbolic of Koizumi's close ties with U.S. President George W. Bush and his support for U.S.-led antiterrorism operations.

Koizumi, who pressed ahead with the dispatch despite controversies over its legitimacy under Japan's pacifist Constitution, is scheduled to visit Bush in Washington next week, before stepping down in September when his tenure as LDP president expires.

But the premier denied criticism that the pullout was timed to take place before his term ends, saying, ''It was just a coincidence that the decision was made at this time after considering all factors concerned.''

He defended the deployment as the ''right decision'' based on U.N. resolutions, but dismissed calls for permanent legislation to allow for future dispatches in similar situations.

Japan's withdrawal will be in step with that of British and Australian forces. Koizumi extended his gratitude to the two nations, as well as U.S. and Dutch forces for protecting the Japanese troops in the area.

Britain, whose forces are now maintaining security in the area, has reportedly indicated to its allies that it will announce the transfer of its security authority to the Iraqis this week.

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