Aussie troops to protect Japan contingent in Iraq

Compiled from AP, Kyodo CANBERRA -- Australia will send 450 more troops to Iraq to provide security in the south for Japanese soldiers performing a humanitarian mission and to bolster democracy, Prime Minister John Howard announced Tuesday.

The new detachment will include a cavalry squadron, infantry company and a team to train local forces, Howard told a news conference in Canberra.

Howard said he made the decision to send more troops to Iraq following phone calls from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

British forces are responsible for providing security in the region.

Australia, a staunch U.S. ally, sent 2,000 troops to take part in the invasion of Iraq and still has nearly 900 troops in and around the country. Howard said it would take about 10 weeks for the new troops to prepare for their trip to Iraq and they would probably stay there a year.

"This has not been, is not and will not be an easy decision for the government; I know it will be unpopular with many," Howard said.

The Australian troops will replace Dutch soldiers who had been serving in Al-Muthanna Province of southern Iraq but are scheduled to pull out by mid-March.

"I believe this is the right decision," Howard said. "It will make a significant contribution to the coalition effort; it will make a significant contribution to the rebuilding of Iraq."

About 600 Ground Self-Defense Force troops are now performing humanitarian and reconstruction work in the southern Iraq city of Samawah.

Restricted by Japan's war-renouncing Constitution, the troops are not involved in maintaining security and thus have been depending on 1,400 Dutch troops for their safety.

"We welcome the decision and praise it highly," Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said in a statement. "It encourages the international community that has been making efforts to rebuild Iraq."

Koizumi phoned Howard on Friday requesting help, according to Japanese government officials.

Howard has long resisted calls from the United States and Britain to increase Australian troop numbers.

His move to send troops there initially sparked the biggest peace protest in Australia since the Vietnam War.

Howard said he had decided to provide an extra 450 troops based on assessments by Australian military chiefs.

He described the region where the troops will be sent as "relatively benign" and said he believed two Dutch troops had been killed there since the end of the invasion.

Howard said that the Self-Defense Forces troops needed to be protected for the sake of the coalition in Iraq.

"The Japanese presence in Iraq as part of the coalition operation, albeit of the humanitarian kind, is a very important one and if it were to disappear, then I think that would, both in substance and in symbolism, be a very bad thing."

Howard said that unless additional security is provided after the Dutch troops pull out, "then there was a real possibility that the Japanese would no longer remain there. And that would be a very serious blow to the coalition effort."

In late January, British Defense Secretary Geoffrey Hoon said Britain would send troops to Samawah after the Dutch soldiers leave.

Howard said the first task for the new deployment would be to provide a secure environment for the GSDF troops.

The new task force will also be involved in the training of Iraqi security forces, he said.

"The Japanese element of this is quite crucial, because Japan is a major regional partner of Australia," Howard said.