Japan PM praises troops in Kuwait for Iraq mission http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL30527746
Tue May 1, 2007
By Elaine Lies
ALI AL-SALEM AIR BASE, Kuwait, May 1 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reviewed Japan's air force troops in Kuwait on Tuesday and thanked them for doing a good job in Iraq.
Japan withdrew some 600 ground troops from the southern Iraqi city of Samawa last year after a non-combat mission lasting more than two years.
Around 200 air force personnel have remained in Kuwait, from where they airlift supplies to the U.S.-led forces in Iraq.
The troop dispatch was a symbol of Tokyo's willingness to put "boots on the ground" for close ally the United States in the riskiest mission for its troops since World War Two.
It was opposed by many at home for stretching the limits of Japan's pacifist constitution but approval of the mission rose after the soldiers came home without having fired a shot or suffered any casualties.
"I have heard many words of gratitude from the United States, the United Nations and the people of Iraq about your work," Abe said.
"You are working far from home for Japan, for Iraq, and for world peace, and as your commander-in-chief, I thank you from my heart."
In late March, Japan's cabinet approved extending a law allowing the air force to fly its missions for another two years despite the fact more than two-thirds of Japanese want the mission to end in mid-year.
Abe, Japan's first leader born after World War Two, has long been keen to have Japan play a greater global security role and has said that a self-imposed ban on collective self-defence, or helping an ally under attack, was standing in the way.
Abe arrived in Kuwait late on Monday for the first visit by a Japanese prime minister as part of a five-nation visit aimed at raising his nation's profile in the oil-producing region.
Images of Abe reviewing the troops are likely to play well with his core support of voters ahead of a July election for parliament's upper house. He will visit Qatar and Egypt before heading back to Japan on May 2.
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