Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday announced the withdrawal of Japanese ground troops from southern Iraq. In a nationally televised news conference, he said the soldiers had helped rebuild the infrastructure of the area they were deployed, and he pledged to continue aiding Iraqi reconstruction.
According to the AP, he offered no timetable for the withdrawal, but Kyodo News agency reported that Defense Chief Fukushiro Nukaga immediately issued a withdrawal order.
Japan deployed some 600 troops in the city of Samawah in southern Iraq. The pullout was prompted by the announcement on Monday that Britain and Australia would hand over to Iraqi forces responsibility for security in southern Muthana province, where the Japanese troops are based.
