Some members of Japan's advance Ground Self-Defense Force team to be deployed to Iraq later this month will remain in Kuwait to liaise with U.S. forces and prepare for the arrival of the main unit, government sources said Saturday.

The sources said they will stay at the U.S. forces' Camp Virginia in Kuwait.

"It is meaningful for Japan to keep its personnel in the camp in Kuwait as U.S. troops stationed there have experience in fighting insurgents," a government source said. "It is possible that Japan will consider increasing the number of personnel stationed in the camp."

The advance team, made up of 30 members, is expected to leave Japan as early as Thursday aboard a civilian aircraft. It will stop off in Kuwait before heading overland to the southern Iraqi city of Samawah, where it will make preparations for the arrival of the main GSDF unit, expected to number around 500 personnel.

The sources said the advance team will initially stay at the U.S. camp in Kuwait and conduct training using light armored vehicles and firearms airlifted from Japan.

About 20 members of the advance team will then travel to Samawah, while several other team members will remain at the camp to prepare for the arrival of the main unit, expected as early as February, the sources said.

Some members of the main unit are also expected to join them later in Kuwait, they said.

In Samawah, the GSDF is expected to have little contact with U.S. forces as Dutch troops are in charge of local security.

Camp Virginia, used by the U.S. forces even before the invasion of Iraq in March last year, is in constant use and accommodates and trains between 600 and 1,000 U.S. troops assigned to central or northern Iraq.

The dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq will mark the first time since World War II that Japan has sent noncombat troops to another country where fighting is taking place.

Ishiba attends drill

Staff report NARASHINO, Chiba Pref. -- The Ground Self-Defense Force on Saturday conducted annual airborne exercises at the Narashino drill site here.

About 380 members of the First Airborne Brigade took part in the event, which consisted of parachute drops and free-fall exercises, followed by surveillance drills and combat operations on the ground.

This year's event attracted over 10,000 people, some 2,000 more than last year. Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba also attended the event.

Commenting on his order the previous day for the GSDF to send an advance unit to Iraq, Ishiba said, "There is something we need to defend for the sake of the Japanese and other people in the world, even if there is a risk."

"In Japan, only SDF personnel like you can carry out such missions," he added.