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Judiciary dismisses suit against Iraq deployment

The Japanese judiciary yesterday turned down for the second time a lawsuit seeking to pull troops from Iraq on the grounds that the historic mission violates the pacifist Constitution.

The Nagoya District Court in central Japan turned down the lawsuit by 3,200 lawyers and residents who said the deployment was not in line with the Constitution, which bars Japan from maintaining a military.

The plaintiffs had sought an immediate end to the mission, recognition that it violated the Japanese Constitution and ¥10,000 (U$85) each in compensation for mental anguish.

A court in western Kofu district rejected a similar suit in October, saying the plaintiffs had no legal basis to say the mission directly affected them.

Japan has some 600 troops on a humanitarian mission in the relatively safe city of Samawa in southern Iraq.

It is Japan's first deployment since World War II to a country where fighting is ongoing.

To avoid violating the provisions of the US-imposed 1947 Constitution, the government says the troops operate in a "non-combat zone" within Iraq.

The troops, who have suffered no casualties and have not fired their weapons, have relied on Britain, Australia and earlier on the Netherlands for their security.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is seeking to revise the Constitution to recognize that Japan has a military while remaining pacifist.

His government has signaled it plans to end the Iraq mission this year.
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