Last of 3 Japanese planes departs Iraq - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Last of 3 Japanese planes departs Iraq

KUWAIT CITY, Dec. 17 — The last of three C-130H cargo planes of a Japanese Air Self-Defense Force unit that is pulling out of its nearly five-year airlift mission in Iraq departed from Kuwait for home Wednesday.

At a ceremony held before the departure of the plane, the ASDF troops gathered at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, the unit’s base for the mission. A U.S. Air Force officer read a statement expressing gratitude for the Japanese mission.

A letter of gratitude from U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso was also read out at the ceremony.

Col. Yasuji Kitamura of the ASDF told reporters, “We have reinforced the foundation of the Japan-U.S. alliance.”

Japan began withdrawing the ASDF transport unit on Monday after terminating the airlift mission last Friday, which began in March 2004 as part of Japan’s humanitarian and reconstruction contributions in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

The airlift operations initially supported Japanese ground troops deployed to Samawah in Iraq, providing a crucial transport link between the Kuwaiti base and Ali airfield near the southern Iraqi city.

After the Ground Self-Defense Force’s withdrawal from Iraq in July 2006, the airlift mission was expanded to include the transportation of personnel and supplies for the United Nations and coalition forces, connecting the base in Kuwait with three Iraqi cities including Baghdad.

The Japanese ground and air troops were dispatched under the authority of a special law enacted in July 2003 on the initiative of then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Japan’s complete withdrawal from Iraq coincides with the impending expiration of a U.N. mandate authorizing the deployment of multinational forces in Iraq and the inauguration next month of Barack Obama as the new U.S. president. Obama advocates an early withdrawal from Iraq.

The first of the three ASDF unit cargo planes, which left Kuwait earlier this week, is slated to return to Japan on Friday, while about 150 personnel of the transport unit are expected to arrive in the country next Tuesday.

The rest of the roughly 200 personnel in the transport unit will remain at the base in Kuwait for a while along with about 70 ASDF personnel to continue pullout-related operations. The withdrawal will be completed by the end of March.