TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced his plan Tuesday to withdraw troops from Iraq at a ruling party meeting, an official said, moving to end Japan's largest military mission since World War II.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of party protocol, said Koizumi told a meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party that he would make a public announcement of the pullout later in the day.
"We've finished this chapter," Kyodo News agency quoted Koizumi as telling party executives.
Japan has about 600 troops in the city of Samawah in southern Iraq. Although the mission is strictly non-combat and humanitarian, the deployment broke new ground as a symbol of Tokyo's more assertive military policy of recent years.
The move was prompted by the announcement on Monday that Britain and Australia would hand over responsibility for security to Iraqi forces in Iraq's southern Muthana province, where the Japanese troops are based.
I wonder if Bush will accuse his best friend Koizumi of cutting and running when he meets with him later this month.
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