Japan will send military personnel to Sudan to join U.N. peacekeeping operations in the country's first military dispatch to the African nation, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said June 30.

Fukuda announced the move at a joint news conference with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, who is visiting Japan as part of his two-week official trip to Asia.

"With regards to Africa, we will contribute Self-Defense Forces personnel to the headquarters of the U.N. mission in Sudan," Fukuda said. He gave no further details.