Tokyo, Aug 21: For war-wary Japan, it would have been historic - dispatching troops to help rebuild an Iraq that's far from safe. But the bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad could force Tokyo to shelve plans to send a peacekeeping force to a combat zone for the first time since World War II.
Japanese officials now say the dispatch, approved last month by Parliament, may be delayed by up to several months.
``A dispatch may not be feasible this year,'' defense agency chief Shigeru Ishiba told reporters late yesterday.
``If we provide humanitarian aid, it doesn't seem out of the question that (Japanese troops) could be targeted for attack. It will probably take some time before the peace is restored,'' he said. ``The fact is, a troop dispatch won't happen soon.''

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who has sought to raise Japan's international profile by expanding its peacekeeping role, has stressed Japan's duty to help with reconstruction.



But Koizumi, who is up for re-election as head of the ruling party next month, has promised to make a decision on the timing after a government team confirms it is safe to do so.



``We will carefully monitor the situation and plan to conduct a thorough survey,'' he told reporters yesterday in Poland, where he is on a three-nation European trip. ``We have to continue the aid."


Bureau Report