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| Sunday, 22 December 2002 |
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Japan may send troops to scrap Iraq weapons-report TOKYO, Saturday (Reuters) Japan may send troops to Iraq to help scrap any chemical and biological weapons following a possible attack on that country, Japanese media said on Saturday. The report came a day after U.S. President George W. Bush said a recent Iraqi arms declaration was "not encouraging" for finding a peaceful solution to a standoff over disarming and amid speculation Washington may be eyeing military action early in 2003. Japanese government sources said the government has begun drafting a bill that would allow Japan's Ground Self Defence Forces to help dispose of chemical and biological weapons once any military action was over, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said. It added that the United States had informed Japan that Iraq may have huge amounts of chemical weapons and chemical substances and had unofficially sought its help to dispose of them. Government officials were not immediately available for comment. Japan is barred from dispatching troops overseas for peacekeeping operations unless a ceasefire is in place and countries concerned consent to the dispatch. Officials have previously said Tokyo is considering what it could do in the event of an Iraqi war, given the limits of its pacifist constitution, with media reporting the government has drafted plans centring on refugee relief and logistical support. Japan, keen to avoid a rerun of its diplomatic humiliation when it failed to send even token troops for the 1991 Gulf War, last year passed a law enabling the country to deploy naval ships to support the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan -- its first military dispatch into a conflict since World War Two. On Monday, a Japanese warship equipped with a high-tech Aegis air defence system left for the Indian Ocean, a controversial move some analysts say signals support for a possible U.S.-led attack on Iraq. Japanese voters, however, have been lukewarm to providing backing for a possible U.S.-led military operation against Iraq. A survey by the liberal Asahi Shimbun newspaper published on Monday showed 57 percent of respondents said Japan should not provide any backing for such an operation. |
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