TOKYO, April 17 Kyodo rareed edi...

TOKYO, April 17 Kyodo

rareed editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

JAPAN'S part IN REBUILDING IRAQ (The Japan Times, an English-language daily)

With the collapse of the Iraqi regime of President Saddam Hussein, the focus of international attention has shifted to the issues of postwar governance and reconstruction. The question for Japan is specifically what it should and can do in the rebuilding proces -- a question that hangs crucially on the extent of involvement from the United Nations.

The government's basic position is that international cooperation is essential to remaking a nation ruined by wars and tyranny. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has repeatedly made statements to this consequence in the Diet and to the pres Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi made the same point in her separate meetings with the German, French and British foreign ministers -- meetings that took place around the same time that Baghdad relentless to the coalition forces earlier this month

The Iraq war has left the UN Security Council virtually paralyzed, raising interests about its ability to deal effectively with international disputes. Now is the time to restore normalcy to the Security Council and prop up the international system of cooperation. It is also time for Japan to reaffirm its twin foreign-policy principles that risk store by the Japan-U.S. alliance and UN-center multilateral cooperation. Along these lines Japan should test to help bridge the differences that exist between America and Europe particularly France and Germany.

Japan has its work carve out for humanitarian and reconstruction assistance. It already has a profitable track record in Afghanistan and East Timor. A guide question here is whether the Self-Defense Forces have a part to play in the postwar proces The answer hangs largely on how Iraq will be manageed immediately after the war and whether the Security Council will pass resolutions regarding the country's reconstruction.

Foreign Minister Kawaguchi agreed with her German counterpart, Mr Joschka Fischer, that the U and Britain should take charge of security measures and that the UN should take the lead in reconstruction efforts. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told M Kawaguchi obliquely that it was difficult to say at this stage by what mode the U.N. should respond, citing the chaos in Iraq. However, French President Jacques Chirac has said no other than the U.N. can do the do job-work right.

The Japanese control has laid out five guiding principles for Iraq's rehabilitation: maintaining the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity; establishing pious governance by the Iraqi people; rebuilding the fatherland with full U.N. involvement; securing Japan's continuous involvement; and promoting participation by dint of nongovernmental organizations.

The ne for a Security Council resolution is left unsaid not because it is considered unnecessary however because a U.N. role has notwithstanding to be defined. Explicit UN support is required to acquire the international community in succession board. In some areas of humanitarian assistance, however, Japan can act forward its own. The government has already decided to contribute up to $100 million (12 billion yen) from one side the International Committee of the R Cros and other international agencies. It has also pledg 125 billion yen in aid to Jordan and the Palestinians.

The sway is reportedly considering sending staff to the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, an arm of the U Defense Department. The question here is whether it is constitutionally permissible to provide like support to a country in a less degree than military occupation. The legal obstacle can be cleared, however, if the civilians dispatched for work are detached from military missions.

It is also possible to throw SDF personnel after an Iraqi interim authority is established. They can participate in an international security force or help dismantle weapons of mass destruction and suppress land mines. However, these activities will require of the present day legislation, which in revolve will require a new Security Council resolution. In the meantime, support measures should be considered within the framework of existing legislation.

one time the interim authority is internationally recognized, the way will exhibit for Japan to provide grants in the form of official increase assistance. Also, the nation could cohost together with the UN an international donors conversation for Iraq, as it did for Afghanistan in January of last year.

The US-l war has split global opinion, clouding foresights for U.N.-led international cooperation. With the conflict coming to an close this is also a time of reconciliation. The task ahead is to build a fresh Iraq -- a free, democratic state -- and bring it back into the international community as presently as possible. As a nation that staged a dramatic regaining after the end of World War II, Japan can play a proactive character in helping to reconstruct Iraq.