PARIS, Aug 21: Japan, which had been expected to be an important contributor to the Iraqi reconstruction effort, appeared to be backing away from a promise to send up to 1,000 troops by November because of the absence of security.

“If you look at the current situation, common sense says we cannot send them right away,” said Shigeru Ishiba, the director general of the Japanese Defense Agency. “Even the United Nations, which only provided humanitarian aid and did not use force, has been targeted for attack.”

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said there was no question of his government sending troops to Iraq, telling the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper that under UN resolutions, the United States and Britain were meant to provide security and stabilization.

“We would have wished for a central role of the UN, but some of our partners were of another opinion. We have to accept that,” he said.

In Bangkok, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Thailand may also cancel its plan to send more than 400 troops.

The Spanish government, too, came under pressure to withdraw its troops following the death of a Spanish naval captain in the UN bombing.

Socialist party opposition leader Manuel Chaves called for a parliamentary debate “leading to the exit” of Spanish forces. “Many Spaniards are concerned at what the armed forces are doing as an occupation force in Iraq,” he said.

But US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States would continue to press other nations to contribute troops and aid workers to stabilization and reconstruction efforts.

Boucher said 27 nations already had send nearly 22,000 troops to Iraq, and that discussions were taking place with 14 other countries about possible deployments.

Russia slams US: Russia joined countries assailing the United States on Thursday for failing to provide security in Iraq, but Washington said it would not send more of its own troops and instead renewed calls for other nations to step in and help.

Following Tuesday’s devastating bomb attack on UN headquarters in Baghdad, Russian deputy foreign minister Yuri Fedotov said US and British troops were “obliged to maintain order” under a UN Security Council resolution recognizing them as the occupying power.

The United Nations rejected a US claim that it was responsible for providing its own security and said it was the responsibility of the United States, which launched the war to oust the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein in March.

“If we, and others, are to be able to contribute effectively to the recovery of Iraq, it is essential that an environment of security be created in Iraq,” said UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Annan’s personal representative to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, was among the 23 people reported killed in the bomb attack, with an unknown number still missing.

Annan is due to meet US Secretary of State Colin Powell in New York to discuss a possible new Security Council resolution to bolster troop commitments.

Despite the bombing, a contingent of 96 Philippine soldiers, police officers and health workers left for a six-month humanitarian mission that will include military engineering projects, medical assistance and training for the Iraq police.—AFP