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."