TOKYO, March 26: Japan has turned down a request from the United States to close the Iraqi embassy in Tokyo, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.

Japan has said it backs the US-led military action in Iraq, and also supported the coalition against Baghdad in the 1991 war.

But Japanese media have quoted government officials as saying they need to keep open a means of communication with Baghdad.

Asked about the US government’s request to close the embassy, ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima said: “The Japanese government has decided not to close it. We informed the American side of our decision last night.”

Mr Takashima gave no reasons for the decision, but said: “This is something each government or host country should decide.”

France, Germany, Russia and the Netherlands have refused similar requests from Washington to expel Iraqi diplomats, though Australia has ordered all Iraqi diplomats to leave the country.

Iraq has not had an ambassador in Japan since 1991, and its top diplomat is a charge d’affaires.

Japan’s embassy in Iraq closed several weeks ago, but the foreign ministry says 43 Japanese citizens are in the country, some of them hoping to act as “human shields” against attacks.—Reuters