Legislation that would allow the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces to Iraq for postwar reconstruction will probably be submitted to the Diet in June, a senior member of the ruling coalition said Friday.

The senior coalition official also said the current Diet session, scheduled to run until June 18, will be extended to ensure passage of the legislation.

Even if the Iraq legislation were to be submitted earlier, the Diet will still be busy focusing on a package of bills related to personal information protection and emergency contingency legislation, according to the official, who asked not to be named.

Because of the tight schedule, Cabinet ministers and senior government officials would not be able to take part in additional sessions, the official explained.

To accelerate deliberations, however, the Iraq legislation will be handled by a special committee rather than a standing committee so sessions can be held daily, he said.

Standing committees by rule hold sessions on fixed days -- usually two or three times a week -- unless the ruling and opposition camps agree to hold sessions on other days. Special committees, which are set up with the agreement of both ruling and opposition parties, are not bound by such rules.

Although it is still unclear how many days the session will be lengthened, the ruling parties envision a significant extension because, by law, an ordinary Diet session can only be extended once, the official said.

According to Foreign Ministry officials, SDF personnel dispatched to Iraq would engage in nonmilitary activities such as providing logistic support to military troops maintaining public order and rebuilding infrastructure.

Civilian dispatch

Japan will dispatch four or five civilian officials by the end of the month to a U.S. Defense Department body tasked with overseeing the reconstruction of postwar Iraq, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said Friday.

Personnel dispatched to the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance will probably include officials from the Foreign Ministry, the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, officials said.

"It is important for Japan to cooperate in Iraq's humanitarian and reconstruction process by sending (staff) at an early date," Kawaguchi told reporters.

She also stressed the importance of reopening the Japanese Embassy in Baghdad to ensure smooth support for the reconstruction process. It was closed in early March amid mounting fears over the coming war.

The dispatched officials are expected to take part in mapping out the reconstruction process, although Japan is still engaged in discussions with ORHA on the matter, a ministry official said.

The Foreign Ministry is planning to dispatch more people when the reconstruction body, which is currently located in Kuwait, begins its operations in Baghdad on a full-scale basis, the official added.

The officials may later work as staffers within Iraq's interim authority, which is likely to be established within the next few months, the official said.

But some lawmakers, even within the Liberal Democratic Party, remain skeptical about any ORHA dispatch, claiming Japan has no legal grounds for participation in light of the pacifist Constitution.

Former LDP Secretary General Hiromu Nonaka, during a meeting Friday of the party's Executive Council, criticized the government for deciding to send the personnel.