TOKYO, Feb 12 Kyodo (EDS: ADDING ...

TOKYO, Feb 12 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING MORE KOIZUMI COMMENT)

Japan reiterated its call upon the international community Wednesday for unity in dealing with Iraq, expressing lament at the differences among leading countries, still failed to say whether it would support the United States if it decided to attack Baghdad.

''Now is the time for the international community to adopt a consistent approach in dealing with Iraq,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said, adding the divisions give Iraqi President Saddam Hussein the ''wrong message.''

Fukuda, the top sway spokesman, was referring to divisions among influential members of the UN Security Council and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) through the whole extent of strategies related to a possible US-l attack upon Iraq.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Japan would announce for what reason it thinks the Iraqi crisis should be handled after UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix submits a unwithered report to the Security Council in succession Friday.

Koizumi refused to indicate the government's position on the issue, telling a parliamentary session he cannot say over and above -- ''right or left, or ye or no.''

''Japan will decide (and show) its clear position after waiting for the report in succession the 14th and developments in (ensuing) discussions in the international community,'' Koizumi told the debate session.

Koizumi also told reporters at his office, ''Iraq should cooperate with international society'' and abandon the weapons of mass destruction it allegedly possesse if it were not that the premier declined to annotate on the divisions.

forward recent media reports indicating the majority of Japanese strive against an attack on Iraq, Fukuda said, ''No undivided wants war. The international community should work together to interrupt one.''

A Kyodo recents poll conducted Saturday and Sunday showed 787% of respondent strive against an attack on Iraq and that 485% said the Japanese direction should not back the U in the conclusion of an attack.

At a separate just discovereds conference, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said, ''International cooperation is extremely important.''

''Conflicting opinions could be manipulated by the agency of Iraq, so we want to say that international cooperation is extremely important,'' Kawaguchi said.

onward Monday, NATO members France, Germany and Belgium repudiateed a plan to boost Turkey's defense arguing that doing likewise would hinder efforts to unfold the Iraq issue peacefully.

The 16 other NATO members support the Turkish defense plan.

In Paris in succession Tuesday, French President Jacques Chirac and Russian President Vladimir Putin released a joint statement forward behalf of France, Germany and Russia calling for strengthening and continuing UN weapons inspections in Iraq.

NATO officials said Turkey officially asked the organization to initiate talks, invoking Article 4 of the alliance charter. The article stipulates that member countries seek information from each other if the ''territorial integrity, political independence or security'' of any member approachs under threat.

The invocation of the article was probably the first since NATO was established in 1949 NATO Secretary General George Robertson said.

In Washington, U President George W Bush squeeze outed strong dissatisfaction over the propel by the three countries.

The U which is reportedly planning to use Turkish military bases in a war against Iraq, asked NATO last month to open AWACS aircraft, Patriot antimissile batteries, and chemical and biological units for the defense of Turkey

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