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Japan provides equipment, weapons for GSDF's Iraq mission

PLA Daily 2004-02-06

TOKYO, Feb. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- The first of the six chartered Russian transport planes carrying equipment and weapons for Iraq reconstruction mission of Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF)arrived Thursday in Kuwait from Japan.

According to Kyodo News, the five other Antonov planes will arrive at Abdullah Al-Mubarak Airbase through Friday.

The planes are carrying equipment, including heavy artillery, armored vehicles and materials needed to set up a GSDF camp in thesouthern Iraqi city of Samawah, Kyodo said.

The weapons and equipment are to be used by the first group of the GSDF's main contingent, which is now in Kuwait and preparing to move to Samawah to join an advance team already there.

The 90-member GSDF group arrived in Kuwait on a government jet Wednesday and checked in at Camp Virginia, a US Army base in western Kuwait about 45 kilometers northwest of the air base.

Members of the group will bring the equipment to the US base and inspect it before traveling overland to Samawah, Kyodo said, adding that the group will drive the vehicles in a convoy from thebase to Samawah on Saturday at the earliest.

It will join the advance team of about 30 members in the city to mainly work on setting up the camp and facilities to prepare for deployment of the rest of the core GSDF unit, expected to be dispatched later this month and in March.

Japan is to deploy a total of about 550 GSDF troops in Samawah as part of its humanitarian and reconstruction operations for Iraq,which will involve more than 1,000 ground, air and maritime personnel.