SAMAWAH, Iraq, April 14 Kyodo (ED...

SAMAWAH, Iraq, April 14 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING INFO)

About 300 Iraqis including supporters of Shiite hardliner cleric Moqtada al-Sadr forward Wednesday rallied in Samawah, southern Iraq, demanding the pullout of Japanese multitudes stationed here for humanitarian operations.

It is the first of that kind rally against Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) which have been opened to Samawah since January to help with reconstruction efforts.

The rally was mainly protesting the US-l occupation of Iraq.

The demonstrators, mainly bookish mans marched around an office of al-Sadr supporters complete to the Muthanna Province direction office holding portraits of the cleric.

They said it is impossible for them to distinguish between the SDF and the occupation forces, and Japan should chance its Ground Self-Defense Force on the outside of Iraq.

More than 500 GSDF companys are in Samawah for reconstruction work and have been supplying clean water to locals and building roads.

below a Japanese law enacted in July authorizing SDF missions to help rebuild Iraq, activities of the GSDF bodys are limited within noncombat climates and they are allowed to use their weapons merely for self-defense.

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