- Title: IRAQ: JAPANESE TROOPS SAY THEY RECEIVE A WARM WELCOME IN SAMAWA
- Date: 21st January 2004
- Summary: (W5) SAMAWA, IRAQ (JANUARY 21, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SV OF JOURNALISTS 0.04 2. SV COLONEL MASAHISA SATO, LEADER OF ADVANCE PARTY OF JAPANESE TROOPS, APPROACHING JOURNALISTS 0.07 3. SV JOURNALISTS 0.10 4. MCU (Japanese) COLONEL MASAHISA SATO SAYING: "I really feel we have been given a very warm welcome. For example when we visited the district headquarters yesterday, everyone - local government officials, political party officials and religious representatives - all welcomed us warmly." 0.40 5. SV ANMAR KHADER OF THE IRAQ-JAPAN FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY SHAKING HANDS WITH COLONEL MASAHISA SATO 0.53 6. MCU (English) COLONEL MASAHISA SATO SAYING: "We will do our best for the Iraqi people. I hope that the relationship between the Samawa people and Japan will be enhanced by our activities." 1.11 7. SV OF JOURNALISTS 1.15 (U3) SAMAWA, IRAQ (JANUARY 21, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 8. SLV JAPANESE TROOPS LEAVING NEARBY DUTCH CAMP 1.38 9. SLV JAPANESE TROOPS RETURNING TO THEIR BASE (3 SHOTS) 2.01 (U4) SAMAWA, IRAQ (JANUARY 21, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 10. SLV/CU EXTERIOR OF SAMAWA GENERAL HOSPITAL, BUILT BY JAPANESE BEFORE IRAN-IRAQ WAR (2 SHOTS) 2.13 11. SLV CONVOY OF JAPANESE TROOPS ARRIVING 2.21 12. SV/SLV JAPANESE TROOPS WALKING TOWARDS HOSPITAL FOLLOWED BY MEDIA (2 SHOTS) 2.35 13. MCU/SLV OF HOSPITAL DIRECTOR RASUL AZIZ MA'ALA MEETING WITH JAPANESE TROOPS/MEDIA (3 SHOTS) 2.58 14. MCU (English) HOSPITAL DIRECTOR RASUL AZIZ MA'ALA SAYING: "We discussed about the mainline and the fixing and repairing the hospital and the new equipment and repairing the medical apparatus." 3.13 15. SV OF JOURNALISTS AND MA'ALA 3.17 16. SLV JAPANESE TROOPS DRIVING AWAY 3.27 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 5th February 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: SAMAWA, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVA13WO10RQDVEXTE3FTWDOO7OSG
- Story Text: Japanese troops say they received a warm welcome in
Samawa.
Japanese Colonel Masahisa Sato, leader of an advance
team of Japanese soldiers stationed in Samawa in Iraq, said
on Wednesday (January 21) that his troops had received a
very warm welcome.
"I really feel we have been given a very warm welcome.
For example when we visited the district headquarters
yesterday, everyone - local government officials,
political party officials and religious representatives -
all welcomed us warmly," Sato said.
Sato met with Anmar Khader, the head of the Iraq-Japan
Friendship Society in Samawa, to exchange thoughts on what
the Japanese mission hoped to achieve.
"We will do our best for the Iraqi people," Sato told
Khader.
"I hope that the relationship between the Samawa people
and Japan will be enhanced by our activities," he added.
The team of about 30 Japanese troops arrived in the
southern Iraqi town of Samawa on Monday (January 19) to
begin preparations for the dispatch of a main contingent of
Japanese troops.
Japan's dispatch could eventually involve up to 600
ground troops in Iraq and a total deployment of around
1,000 including air force and navy personnel in the region.
Earlier on Wednesday the troops visited the
Japanese-built Samawa General Hospital to perform a check
on medical equipment and apparatus and to see if and how
they could help in repairing any damages.
The hospital was built by the Japanese before the
Iran-Iraq war and the advance party of Japanese troops were
hoping that they could help rebuild the centre.
Hospital Director Rasul Aziz Ma'ala said he had held
discussions with the Japanese on what needed to be
repaired, adding that new equipment was needed and that
medical apparatus needed fixing.
The troops main task in Iraq of purifying and
distributing water, is expected to begin in April.
The dispatch of troops to a de facto war zone marks a
historic shift away from the purely defensive posture Japan
has maintained since its defeat in 1945.
A law allowing troops to be sent to help rebuild Iraq,
enacted in July, says they can only be sent to "non-combat"
zones.
Japan's constitution renounces the right to go to war
and prohibits the nation from having a military, but it has
been interpreted as allowing Japan to have forces for
self-defence.
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