Iraq Visit Clears Way for Japan Troops to Stay On
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Japan&#39;s defense minister was due to return home on Monday from a flying visit to Iraq after declaring the town of Samawa safe, setting the stage for the government to extend its troops&#39; humanitarian mission there.
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JAPAN is preparing to extend its humanitarian troop deployment to Iraq after its current commitment expires on December 14. The undertaking -- which Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi offered to Iraq&#39;s interim
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A group threatened to execute a Japanese hostage in Iraq unless Japan pulls out its forces, but Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said on Wednesday that the Japanese troops would remain in the country.
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Japan's defense minister was due to return home on Monday from a flying visit to Iraq after declaring the town of Samawa safe, setting the stage for the government to extend its troops' humanitarian mission there.
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When Mohammad Ali-Hassan, the governor of Al-Muthanna Province in southern Iraq, visited Tokyo last week, he thanked Japan for the aid it has given to his province, where Ground Self-Defense Force troops have been deployed.
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Japan&#39;s junior ruling coalition partner backed extending the country&#39;s troop dispatch to Iraq for another year after authorization for the current mission expires Dec. 14.
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Japan's Cabinet on Thursday approved a plan to keep Japanese troops in Iraq for another year, the trade minister said.
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Japan Wednesday refused to withdraw its forces from Iraq despite the threat by Islamic militants to execute a Japanese hostage if the troops remain.
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TOKYO, Japan -- Japan plans to keep its troops in Iraq beyond the original withdrawal date of December 14 this year, according to Japanese media reports Tuesday.
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Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi  insisted on Wednesday that Japan would not withdraw its troops  from Iraq despite a threat by a militant group to behead a  Japanese hostage unless Tokyo pulled them out.
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Japan has said it will keep its troops in Iraq, despite the beheading of a Japanese hostage by Islamic militants. Officials had earlier confirmed that a body found in Baghdad yesterday was that of Shosei Koda
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TOKYO The cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi decided Thursday to extend the mission of Japanese troops in Iraq despite the growing opposition of voters, political opponents and members of his own party.
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Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi&#39;s cabinet agreed on Thursday to extend the deployment of Japan&#39;s 600 non-combat troops in Iraq for up to one year, despite
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The first batch of Japanese troops began pulling out of Iraq Friday, with about 30 arriving in Kuwait on their way home, news reports said Friday. A C-130 transport aircraft of Japan&#039;s air force carrying about 30 troops arrived at a Kuwaiti airport Friday afternoon, Kyodo News agency reported from Kuwait. Public broadcaster NHK had a similar report.
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The first batch of Japanese troops has returned home from Iraq to emotional family reunions as the officially pacifist nation wrapped up its most significant military operation since World War II.
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Japan is to tighten security at its military camp in Iraq after a rocket shell landed inside the facility, the latest sign of a worsening security situation that is fuelling demands in Japan that the troops be pulled out.
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Japan approved an extension of its troop  deployment in Iraq Thursday for up to a year, a decision  opposed by most voters, who want to end the nation's riskiest  military mission since World War II.