The government decided Jan. 25 to send the Self-Defense Forces to join the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti, where engineering units will provide humanitarian and reconstruction aid following the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake.

The decision by a ministerial committee of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's government is based on a U.N. Security Council resolution unanimously adopted Jan. 19 to boost the number of personnel for the mission by 1,500 police officers and 2,000 soldiers.

The government has notified the U.N. of the planned SDF dispatch, officials said.

But whether conditions in Haiti fall within Japan's five-point principles for participating in peacekeeping could be questioned as worsening security is a major concern following the disaster.