Troops continue with community building exercises
(15 Dec 2004) 1. Wide shot Japanese army trucks entering base 2. Wide shot military vehicle 3. Wide shot Japanese and Iraqi officials shaking hands 4. Display Iraqi and Japanese flags, photos of road construction project 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Col. Fakoda, Commander (no first name available): "We, the Japanese contingent, were ordered by the Japanese Prime Minister Mr Koizumi, to work with Iraqi people to reconstruct your country for another year." 6. Japanese officers 7. Iraqi officials 8. Various from a video clip showing road construction done with Japanese assistance 9. Wide shot of ceremony 10. Cutaway of cameraman 12. Wide shot of Iraqi and Japanese officials posing for a photograph STORYLINE: Japanese and Iraqi officials marked the completion of the first phase in the reconstruction of roads in the Samawah region, about 230 kilometres southeast of Baghdad on Monday. The situation in Samawah is relatively quiet compared to the rest of Iraq, and the Japanese military contingent takes credit for much of rebuilding effort in that region. On Tuesday Japan's prime minister lauded what he described as Tokyo's successful humanitarian troop dispatch to Iraq on the first anniversary of its deployment - the military's country's most dangerous mission since World War II. Last December Japan's Cabinet approved a plan to send 550 ground troops, and hundreds of air force and naval personnel assisting them, to Iraq for one year ending on Tuesday to purify water and rebuild infrastructure in southern Iraq. Last week the Cabinet extended the mission for another 12 months through December 14, 2005. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, a vocal supporter of the US-led invasion of Iraq, overrode public opposition to prolong the deployment, saying it was needed to help stabilise Iraq. An opinion poll by the Mainichi newspaper over the weekend showed 62 percent of voters opposed extending the mission for another year, with over half of these respondents saying they were worried about the troops' safety. To appease critics who said the mission was too dangerous for Japanese troops, who are restricted by Japan's pacifist constitution, the new mandate specifically says Japanese troops may be pulled out if security in southern Iraqi deteriorates. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said the government wisely chose Samawah, which he called a non-combat zone, as a destination for Japanese troops. Opposition leaders have argued the dispatch violates the Japanese law authorising the mission because they say all of Iraq is at war. The law says Japanese troops must be deployed to a non-combat zone. To cover the cost for the dispatch through the end of the current fiscal year ending March 31, the Cabinet on Tuesday approved a supplementary budget of 94.4 (m) million dollars Defence Minister Yoshinori Ono said. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
