SDF-Iraq bill is sent to Diet after WMD clause excised

The government submitted a revised bill to the Diet on Friday that would enable the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces personnel to Iraq to carry out reconstruction work, after excising the disposal of weapons of mass destruction from the SDF's mission from the initial draft.

The bill was approved at an extraordinary Cabinet meeting after the Liberal Democratic Party endorsed it earlier in the day on condition that the clause on weapons of mass destruction be removed.

LDP lawmakers demanded the removal of the clause at an Executive Council meeting, saying that no chemical, biological or nuclear weapons have been discovered in Iraq and that the SDF does not have the capabilities to dispose of them, party members said.