The first group of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) main troop left Japan on Tuesday afternoon from Chitose air base in Hokkaido as part of Japan's efforts for Iraq's reconstruction.  

The 90-member group departed on a government jet and is scheduled to arrive in Kuwait on Wednesday.

According to NHK television, the group will not arrive in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah, the base of the 550-strong GSDF mission, until Saturday at the earliest.

But the deployment remains controversial in Japan. Parliamentary debate was stalled from Monday until midday Tuesday, with opposition parties boycotting a committee session to protest the governing coalition's push Saturday for parliament approval of the SDF deployment.

The public is also becoming increasingly concerned about troop safety following Sunday's suicide bombings in Iraq that killed at least 57 people and injured 235.

Defense Agency Director General Shigeru Ishiba said Japan will continue to be vigilant about local security conditions, though it believes Samawah remains safe.

"An advance team has been preparing for the arrival, and the security situation has not changed," Ishiba told reporters in Tokyo ahead of the dispatch of the core GSDF unit.

"But conditions could change any second, so we always want to gather information carefully and accurately," he said.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was apparently irritated by the boycott in the Diet as he refused to comment on the GSDF dispatch in the morning.

The departing team, consisting mainly of engineers and security personnel from bases in Hokkaido, will set up a camp in Samawah.

According to Kyodo News, about 1,600 fellow and former GSDF troops gathered to send the team off at Higashi-Chitose base and 300 family members attended a send-off ceremony at the Air Self-Defense Force's Chitose base.

"All of us hope to come back safely," Col. Yasushi Kiyota, 41, was quoted by Kyodo, as saying on behalf of the 90 members before the departure.

Yasukazu Hamada, senior vice minister at the Defense Agency, said at the ceremony, "I'm satisfied that thorough preparations have been made."

Equipped with antitank weapons and other heavy artillery, the troops will train in Kuwait for several days before crossing the border overland for Samawah in a convoy of about 50 armored vehicles and trucks.

Also on Tuesday, two chartered Russian Antonov planes left Chitose air base to transport equipment for the first group.

In Tokyo, cabinet members expressed hope that the GSDF will accomplish its mission without any incidents.

But Kazuyoshi Kaneko, minister in charge of administrative reform, said he wants the mission to end as soon as the United States-led Coalition Provisional Authority hands over power to Iraqis by July 1.

"I hope very much that the troops will return as soon as possible after their role ends with the transfer of power," Kaneko said during the parliament discussion.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda reiterated that the mission is aimed at promoting international peace.

However, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations issued a resolution against the dispatch the same day, urging the government to support Iraqi reconstruction in nonmilitary areas and with nonmilitary means under a United Nations-led framework.

Two groups of students gathered for protest rallies in Chitose, and citizens groups took action in Okinawa, where local sentiment is simmering against the heavy presence of US military bases, NHK reported.

The GSDF is expected to begin providing water, medical aid and help in repairing public facilities in April in Samawah and nearby areas.

The first group will join a 30-member advance team already in Iraq for preparatory work and be followed by the remaining troops to be sent in three batches from the latter part of this month to March.

Koizumi gave final approval on Jan. 26 for the deployment of 550 GSDF troops to Samawah for a humanitarian and reconstruction mission involving more than 1,000 ground, air and maritime personnel.

The entire Air Self-Defense Force contingent of roughly 200 troops has already been deployed to airlift relief goods and supplies for the United Sates-led coalition forces with three C-130 transport planes based in Kuwait.

The Maritime Self-Defense Force is to send 300 troops later this month to transport GSDF equipment for the mission by ship.

(Xinhua News Agency February 4, 2004)