Japan Thursday extended its military mission in Iraq for another year with an eye to withdrawing in 2006, despite growing calls around the world to pull foreign troops out of the country.
The end of the military mission, Japan's first since World War II to a country where fighting is underway, would coincide with the departure of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, one of the closest allies of US President George W. Bush.
Koizumi said the deployment, which began two years ago, had bolstered the international image of Japan, which renounced the right to an armed forces under a US-imposed constitution the premier seeks to change.
"I see the public showing more approval for the Self-Defence Forces after seeing what they are doing," Koizumi said during a visit Thursday to the Defence Agency, which he wants to elevate into a full defense ministry.
"Humanitarian activities by the Self-Defense Forces have so far been highly valued by people in Iraq. We decided to extend their activities while looking at what Japan can do," Koizumi told reporters later in announcing the extension.
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