Shigeru Ishiba

Ishiba also ordered the dispatch of the main contingent of an Air Self-Defense Force unit, including C-130 transport planes, to carry out airlift missions between Kuwait and Iraq. An advance ASDF team is operating in Kuwait and Qatar.

Ishiba ordered the GSDF to send an advance unit to gather information on and assess "the latest" local security conditions, and make arrangements to set up a base for the main GSDF troop contingent, to be dispatched later.

The government plans to send about 550 GSDF troops to southern Iraq to take part in humanitarian aid missions and support reconstruction of the war-torn country, such as by providing medical aid and purifying water. The first part of the main troop dispatch may depart by the end of this month.

The Japan Times Weekly: Jan. 17, 2004
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