Japanese Advance Force Arrives in Iraq

SAMAWAH, Iraq —  Japanese troops arrived Monday in southern Iraq to begin Japan’s most controversial and risky deployment since World War II.

An advance party of about 35 soldiers, who will prepare for the likely deployment of about 1,000 troops, arrived at the Dutch military camp in Samawah after crossing the border from Kuwait eight hours earlier.

“Our mission is to collect information about security and coordinate with aid organizations before our main body comes to Iraq,” Col. Masahisa Sato, head of the advance party, said. “I am proud to be here.”

The dispatch marks a shift away from Japan’s purely defensive postwar security policy and poses a major political risk for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, whose government could be rocked if, as many expect, casualties occur. Japanese opinion is divided over Koizumi’s decision to send troops.

The number of American troops killed in the conflict rose, with the U.S. Central Command reporting that a soldier died Sunday of wounds received Friday from an improvised bomb in Samarra. He was not immediately identified.

Japan’s troops will be based in Samawah, a mainly Shiite Muslim town, where they will help purify water supplies, rebuild schools and provide medical care.

If team members report the area safe, Japan will probably send the main body of its troops later this month.