The special Lower House committee on Iraq issues on Friday approved the contentious dispatch of Self-Defense Forces units to Iraq, despite last-ditch resistance from opposition parties.
On Friday evening, ruling coalition lawmakers rammed the measure through the special committee.
A supplementary budget bill, which includes an outlay of 118.8 billion yen aimed at supporting Iraq's postwar reconstruction, also cleared the Lower House Budget Committee later Friday, in the absence of the opposition parties.