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Japan 'ends Iraq supply mission' | Japan 'ends Iraq supply mission' |
(10 minutes later) | |
Japan will withdraw the troops it had based in the Middle East in support of the US-led coalition. | |
Government officials said that some 200 air force troops would be brought home from Kuwait by the end of the year. | |
They have been deployed to fly goods and personnel into Iraq since Japan withdrew its ground forces from the country two years ago. | |
Japan's pacifist constitution blocks military operations, but humanitarian troops served for two years. | |
After the ground deployment from 2004 to 2006, the current supply mission began, despite opposition disapproval. | |
The opposition Democratic Party, which strongly opposes Japan's military mission, has been gaining ground on the government amid growing calls for a general election in the aftermath of the resignation of the Prime Minister, Yasuo Fukuda. | |
US President George W Bush said on Wednesday that most of the international forces in Iraq were preparing to pull out as the US begins to withdraw some of its own units. |
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