Japan formally orders troops to Iraq | ABC (Australia)

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Last Updated:Tuesday, January 27, 2004. 0:27am (AEDT)

Japan formally orders troops to Iraq


A Japanese soldier from the nation's advance party stands guard in Iraq. Reuters

Japan has formally ordered the dispatch of ground troops into Iraq, the country's first full deployment to a combat zone since World War II.

Ending months of anguished debate, Defence Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba issued the order covering 600 troops hours after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and the leader of the junior ruling coalition party agreed to send Japanese soldiers into Iraq.

"I ordered the dispatch of the core group of the ground troops as well as for a naval detachment (to Iraq)," Mr Ishiba told a press conference.

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