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13:21, July 10, 2007 |
The Japanese government decided on Tuesday to extend the Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF)'s assistance mission in Iraq by one year to July 2008.
The decision, made at a Cabinet meeting, is based on a two-year extension of a special measures law authorizing the ASDF deployment to Iraq to July 2009.
The Japanese government made the decision "in order to show that we are seriously working to support Iraq's reconstruction efforts," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki was quoted by Kyodo News as addressing a news conference.
The Japanese parliament first enacted the special measures law in July 2003 as a legal basis for sending troops to Iraq for reconstruction missions. As the law expires July 31 this year, the government introduced a bill in March to amend it to allow for a two-year extension.
The bill was enacted by the Diet on June 20.
Japan's ASDF began operations from a base in Kuwait in March 2004, initially to support Japanese ground troops in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah.
After the withdrawal of Japan's ground troops from Iraq in July 2006, the ASDF expanded the airlifting of personnel and supplies for the United Nations and multinational forces to cover airports in Baghdad and Arbil in the north.
Source: Xinhua
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