TOKYO,(Saba) - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday suggested a plan to dispatch Japanese troops to Iraq would not be finalized as quickly as anticipated mainly due to the deteriorating
security situation there.
He said at a press conference that the government has not decided on the details of a plan to send Self-Defense Forces (SDF) personnel to Iraq to help reconstruction. The Chinese news agency reported.

He commented on reports that the cabinet may endorse such a plan before the next parliamentary session convenes, possibly Wednesday next week.


The law requires the prime minister to quickly inform parliament of a plan for an SDF dispatch after cabinet endorsement.

"I cannot say by what time we can thrash out a plan or endorse it," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said at a separate press conference earlier in the day.

The high likelihood of the SDF being sucked into hostilities or targeted by terror attacks in Iraq is "a big factor" in the delay, the top government spokesman said.

EM