The Diet on Saturday enacted controversial legislation to dispatch the Self-Defense Forces to help rebuild Iraq, with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pledging to carefully study the timing for the deployment to help guarantee the troops' safety.
With only two days to go before its recess, the Diet -- amid shouts and scuffles among lawmakers -- gave the green light to the government-proposed bill to send SDF troops to Iraq, with the House of Councilors endorsing the legislation 136 to 102 at around 1:45 a.m. The House of Representatives cleared the bill on July 4.
"We will conduct precisely required aid operations under independent judgment and with sufficient consideration for the safety of SDF personnel," Koizumi said in a statement after the enactment of the law.