Japan plans to pull military from Iraq by year’s end
« Thread Started on Nov 28, 2008, 12:01am »

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Japan plans to pull military from Iraq by year’s end
Posted: 11:19 PM ET
TOKYO, Japan (CNN) — Japan’s prime minister announced Friday that the country will pull its Air Self-Defense Force out of Iraq, part of an effort to pull all 210 military personnel out of the country by the end of the year.

“The government of Japan will complete the mission by the end of the year, based on the judgment that the objectives of the ASDF mission have now been fulfilled,” the prime minister’s statement said.

The statement cites that there’s been steady development in the process of democracy and that security has improved. The decision was also made in part by considering the wishes of the Iraqi people, it said.

The ASDF, Japan’s aviation wing of its military, has conducted 810 flights, transporting 46,000 passengers and 670 tons of cargo in missions between Baghdad and southern Iraq, according to the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
^ — CNN’s Kyung Lah contributed to this report.