Japan will send about 30 civilian medical personnel to Iraq for humanitarian assistance activities as soon as the security situation there improves, government sources said Wednesday.
The medics will eventually be dispatched to 13 hospitals across Iraq that have been built using Japan's official development assistance, but fragile public security around the country is likely to prevent immediate action.
A special law allows the government to send Self-Defense Forces troops, civilians and nonmilitary government personnel to noncombat zones in Iraq for humanitarian and reconstruction aid, but the level of safety must be considerably high for civilians to be sent.