move," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told a regular news conference Friday morning.

Although Britain has said its troops would work with Iraqi security forces in the province, some Japanese government officials have expressed doubts over the plan, pointing out that the foreign military presence will decline by 800 when the Dutch leave.

But Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura brushed aside the concerns, saying the security situation in Samawah, the provincial capital and site of the GSDF camp, remains relatively stable and Dutch troops have been training Iraqi police to maintain security.

"Considering these conditions, we think the security situation will continue to be stable," Machimura told reporters.