A Japanese government inspection team left Tokyo for Samawah, southern Iraq, on Saturday to check the security situation there ahead of a planned dispatch of Japanese Self-Defense Forces (SDF).

The team, which consists mainly of the Ground Self-Defense Forces (GSDF) officials, is expected to investigate whether SDF troops could provide humanitarian assistance in the area as planned.

Japan has decided to review its program to help rebuild Iraq, including the plan to dispatch the SDF troops there by the end of the year, in light of a suicide bombing Wednesday in Nasiriyah, southern Iraq, that killed more than 20 people, including Italian troops.

According to Kyodo News, Samawah, about 80 km west of Nasiriyah, was picked as the destination for the Japanese troops because its security situation was considered better than that of the Baghdad area.

The inspection team also planned to visit Nasiriyah, Kyodo said.

"The security situation in Iraq is getting tougher," Hajime Massaki, the GSDF's chief of staff, said at a news conference after the suicide attack. "We need to fully prepare so that we can respond to every situation."

It has yet to be decided when the inspection team will return, with Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba saying, "We have set no limit on the time for the inspection."

Under a specially enacted law on the SDF dispatch, the government is prohibited from sending Japanese troops to combat areas in Iraq. As the special law forbids SDF personnel from freely using weapons overseas, the security situation in Iraq has been a topic of concern for the Japanese public.

(Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2003)