- TOKYO - The Japanese government
is reportedly paying approximately 10 billion yen to Iraqi tribal leaders
to provide bodyguards for the Self-defense Forces in Iraq.
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- A spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office said: "It
is rather cheap if we can buy security for our soldiers with that amount
of money. In Iraq, oil money is distributed to those tribes. It is more
important for the Japanese government to make one-time payments to the
leaders than to pay them a salary. That will help their local economy and
benefit Japan's foreign policy toward new Iraq."
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- The first contingent of Ground Self Defense Forces is
already in Samawah in southern Iraq. The main force is scheduled to be
sent either at the end of January or in early February.
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- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's main concern has been
how to protect the lives of the SDF soldiers. One of the measures that
the government initially took was to have Dutch forces guard the SDF.
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- Last year, Abdul Amir Rikaabi, the powerful leader of
an Iraqi tribe, visited Japan and Koizumi made a confidential agreement
with him in which Japan would pay a huge amount of money in exchange for
protection, according to a source in the Prime Minister's Office.
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- "Mr Rikaabi told us that he would organize 200 to
300 guards to protect Japan's SDF soldiers until the main unit arrived
in Samawah. The SDF will construct their camps within double barbed wire
entanglements in the suburbs of Samawah and engage in supplying water to
the city. The Iraqi guards will provide 24-hour patrols and in the event
of a terrorist attack, Dutch troops will help out," said the source.
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- One source in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP),
speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "The leaders of tribes in
Samawah are requesting salaries for their soldiers. If they are killed
on duty, they will demand compensation for their deaths. The Japanese government
has to donate $1 million in advance for such compensation.
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- "However, the Defense Agency does not have such
a budget. The government will have to use discretionary funds allocated
for the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The
advance Self Defense Forces have been given such discretionary funds by
the Prime Minister's Office." (Shukan Post)
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- http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=286241
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