Sudan expects Japanese troops for humanitarian work
TOKYO (AFP) — Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir said Friday that he expects Japanese troops to help with construction and humanitarian activities in his country, but not peacekeeping operations.
"We have been told that those forces that will be sent by Japan will work in infrastructure, construction of roads and help provide potable (drinking) water for the population there," he said through an interpreter.
He said he had received "no information about their participation in peacekeeping operations."
Japanese media have previously reported that Tokyo plans to send military personnel to Sudan to take part in UN peacekeeping operations.
A foreign ministry official was unavailable for comment.
Japan, which renounced the use of force under the US-imposed constitution after World War II, has been trying to be more than a financial power as it seeks a greater world role including a permanent seat on the Security Council.
Japan sent ground troops to Iraq in 2004 on a non-combat reconstruction mission, the first time since World War II that Japan deployed troops to a nation where fighting was ongoing. They returned home in 2006.
The troops -- who suffered no casualties and never even fired their weapons -- helped reconstruct a relatively peaceful southern province, building water supply facilities and providing medical assistance.
Beshir was in Japan to attend a three-day summit on Africa development attended by dozens of leaders from the continent.
He later held informal talks with the leaders of 10 neighbouring African nations to try to address conflicts in the region.
The Darfur conflict has caused hundreds of thousands of desperate refugees to flee across the Chadian border.
Darfur rebels earlier this month launched a deadly raid that reached the outskirts of the Sudanese capital Khartoum with the declared intent of toppling Beshir's regime.