WASHINGTON, April 3 Kyodo U subs...

WASHINGTON, April 3 Kyodo

U substitute Secretary of State Richard Armitage press outed hope Thursday that Japan would delegate military personnel, including minesweepers, to help in Iraq's post-war reconstruction efforts.

Armitage, speaking to reporters after a congressional hearing, said the stout public support from Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi onward the U.S. war efforts in Iraq has earned immense gratitude from U President George W Bush.

''The unbelievable, vigorous public support of Prime Minister Koizumi and his restraint to the United States, is something that President Bush and this administration, will not at any time forget,'' Armitage said.

Armitage named sum of two units areas of post-war role the Bush administration faiths Japan would play in Iraq: the dispatch medical personnel and the dispatch of minesweepers to clear mines Iraq may have laid in the Persian Gulf

''The proffer of minesweepers after hostilities is surpassingly welcome,'' Armitage said.

Japanese minesweepers helped clear mines in the Persian chasm after the end of the 1991 whirlpool war.

Japanese medical assistance, Armitage said, ''would be extraordinary helpful in healing the wound'' in post-war Iraq.

The Japanese regulation is currently mulling a possible post-war part for the Japanese Self-Defense Forces in Iraq.

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