The government will submit a package of bills to help in the postwar reconstruction of Iraq to the Diet probably by early May, Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Taku Yamasaki said Wednesday.

Japan's role in the aftermath of the much-anticipated war is expected to include providing Self-Defense Forces as part of multinational peacekeeping units in the event the United Nations dispatches such forces to Iraq, Yamasaki told reporters.

"It is generally believed that the war will end within one month," the LDP's No. 2 man said, explaining the probable timetable for the legislation. His comment came a day after U.S. President George W. Bush set a 48-hour deadline for Iraq leader Saddam Hussein to surrender or face war.