The government of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was expected Monday to give the final go-ahead for sending the main contingent of the Ground Self-Defense Force to Iraq, according to government sources.
Japan plans to deploy a total of about 550 GSDF troops, including the 30-member advance team already there.
Coalition partner New Komeito held an executive board meeting Saturday evening to prepare for endorsing the main dispatch. The party was expected to make the final decision Monday morning during a meeting of senior members, party sources said.
New Komeito leader Takenori Kanzaki is expected to meet Prime Minister Koizumi around noon and convey the party's consent. Koizumi will then give the green light to the deployment plan and Defense Agency Director General Shigeru Ishiba will issue the order to form and dispatch the GSDF core unit, according to these sources.
Under the order, the main contingent will be formed Feb. 1 and sent to Samawah in batches from early February through March to provide water purification and other relief aid, government sources said.
The government earlier sent advance teams of the Air Self-Defense to Kuwait and Qatar to plan logistics details and of the GSDF to assess security.
