イラクで日本人拘束

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has been one of the strongest backers of the US-led invasion of Iraq, a stance that has raised concern over Japanese troops being targeted.

Japan has sent 550 troops to the southern town of Samawa on a non-combat mission. It is Tokyo's riskiest military deployment since World War Two and critics also say it violates the country's pacifist constitution.