Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi shake hands at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Dec. 5.

The visit came as the government edged closer to extending its non-combat, humanitarian mission in the city of Samawah into 2006 and followed a recent visit to Iraq by Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga.

Jaafari met with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to discuss Iraq's political and economic conditions and Japan's assistance to Iraqi reconstruction. Japan, a vocal supporter of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, has some 600 troops based in Samawah to purify water, repair schools and carry out other humanitarian tasks.

The mission is increasingly unpopular in Japan as security in Iraq deteriorates, but Baghdad wants Japan to stay. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hohshyar Zebari visited in November and urged Tokyo to continue the deployment.

On Dec. 4 angry protesters threw stones at a facility repaired by Japanese troops in the town of Rumaythah near Samawah, a JDA spokeswoman said. Kyodo News reported some 40 armed demonstrators, believed to be members of a Shiite Muslim group backing anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, surrounded a building during a ceremony marking the completion of repairs.

The incident occurred a day after Nukaga visited Samawah. He inspected his troops, met with British and Australian soldiers protecting the Japanese contingent and declared the area relatively safe. His visit was largely seen as an attempt to gain public support for an extension of the mission. Nukaga later brushed off the stone-throwing protest, saying: "It's not the first time such an incident has occurred."

In June, a roadside explosion that damaged a Japanese military vehicle in Samawah led to the troops temporarily suspending their activities outside the base.

Japan's deployment is set to expire Dec. 14. The government is expected to extend it, but Tokyo could still decide to withdraw its troops sometime in the middle of next year.

The Japan Times Weekly: Dec. 10, 2005
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