Japanese troops embark on Iraq mission

Television footage showed airforce servicemen, clad in civilian clothes, left New Tokyo International Airport at Narita, just east of Tokyo.

They are headed for Qatar, where the main US airbase is located, and Kuwait, where Japan's airforce planes will be based to transport medical and other supplies to Iraqi airports, Japanese media said.

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"We want them to make a great contribution in reconstruction work and humanitarian assistance," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda told a regular press conference.

Japan opted not to use its own military or government planes but sent the first two groups, estimated to total about 20, aboard flights operated by British Airways.

"The time has come," advance party chief Colonel Tadashi Miyagawa, in suit and tie, told reporters just before the departure.

"I do not see any immediate danger as we have gathered information on the local security situation," Jiji Press news agency quoted Miyagawa as saying.

Those who took off Friday are a part of an advance party of about 40 airforce servicemen. The rest of them are also expected to depart on commercial flights later.

The advance mission is supposed to check airport safety and make other preparations to receive about 150 other airforce members possibly in January.

The dispatch is part of Japan's plan to send a total of some 1,000 personnel to the region to engage in humanitarian and reconstruction work in Iraq.