The government is considering taking part in the U.N. peacekeeping operations in East Timor, which has been rocked by violence, according to government sources.
The United Nations has been moving toward resuming peacekeeping activities there.
This time, Japan would most likely send civilian police and not Self-Defense Forces personnel, who completed their mission in East Timor in 2004, the sources said.
The recent violence began after the East Timor government sacked hundreds of soldiers, mostly from western districts, for protesting alleged discrimination by commanders from eastern districts.