TOKYO, Dec 4: Japan will approve a basic plan to dispatch troops to Iraq “soon”, US Ambassador to Japan Howard Baker said on Thursday.

Mr Baker said Washington hopes Tokyo’s contribution would help Iraq achieve peace and stability.

“I think soon ... soon is as good as I can do on the decision,” Mr Baker said at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Tokyo, when asked about the timing of Japan’s decision to approve the dispatch of non-combat troops to Iraq.

Japan’s top-selling daily Yomiuri Shimbun said Thursday the basic plan for deploying troops is expected to be approved by the cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday at the earliest.

On Tuesday, Mr Koizumi said Japan must be prepared to face danger by sending troops to Iraq, despite widespread public opposition following the weekend slaying of two Japanese diplomats there.

Mr Baker said Japanese troops would not get involved in military conflict and voiced the hope that Tokyo’s contribution would support humanitarian and reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

“I do not anticipate that Japan will be directly involved in conflict or integrated into military action in Iraq, but I do expect and hope that Japan will be fully involved in the matter of trying to stabilize the country and to provide for its reconstruction,” the US ambassador said.—AFP