Nov 28, 2008, 2:08 GMT
Tokyo - The Japanese government on Friday decided to begin a complete withdrawal of its military from Iraq by the end of December, media reports said.
The pullout order was to be announced later in the afternoon as Prime Minister Taro Aso and his cabinet agreed on the withdrawal at a morning meeting.
The government decided to end its airlift assistance because Iraq's political and security situation has improved, the Kyodo News Agency reported, citing government officials.
A UN resolution authorizing the deployment of multinational forces in Iraq was also set to expire at the end of December.
Japan's Air Self-Defence Force has been airlifting supplies and troops from an airbase in Kuwait to Iraq since March 2004.
Its Ground Self-Defence Force had already pulled out of Iraq in 2006, but the government has yet to decide whether to continue a Maritime Self-Defence Force's refuelling mission that supports anti-terrorism operations in Afghanistan past its deadline in January.
With its military pullout from Iraq, Japan's government is seeking to reinforce its reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan through the refuelling mission in the Indian Ocean, but the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which holds a majority in the upper house of the Diet, has been blocking a bill to extend the mission.
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