The basic plan for sending Japanese ground troops to Iraq for reconstruction assistance, which the Cabinet is expected to approve Tuesday, will omit specifics such as a time frame for the dispatch, Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba said Sunday.

"The basic plan is not an implementation guide or an order for the dispatch, and it is not to decide when" the Ground Self-Defense Force troops will depart, Ishiba said during an appearance on a TV talk program.

His remarks indicate the final decision on exactly when the troops are to be sent will be made carefully -- even after the basic plan is approved -- considering the security situation in Iraq and public opinion in Japan.

A senior official at the Defense Agency said "a reasonable amount of time" will be needed to come up with implementation guidelines and then issuing the go order.

The basic plan is envisioned to show the government's general framework for dispatching the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq under a special law allowing them to be sent to noncombat zones in the country.

Ishiba said he cannot issue a dispatch order until he is convinced the situation in Iraq is sufficiently safe for the troops.

The special law stipulates that the prime minister and the Defense Agency director general are obliged to ensure the safety of troops dispatched to Iraq.

"The risks for the GSDF are high, but we will not have a situation in which we would do nothing just because the GSDF cannot go in," Ishiba said, suggesting the government may dispatch air elements prior to ground units.

On another TV program, former Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said the government should think carefully about the possibility of infringing on the pacifist Constitution in the event troops have to defend themselves.

"If they are attacked, they must fight back," Miyazawa said. "We must call into question whether it is all right to dispatch them, knowing they could be drawn into a combat situation that is not envisioned in the Constitution."

The former prime minister suggested Japan should avoid going out of its way to respond to the U.S. request for further assistance in Iraq if it means taking action that could be constitutionally problematic.

"The Japan-U.S. relationship is important," he said. "But if (the dispatch) is to lead to a situation not envisioned in the Constitution, we just have to ask the United States to understand."