THE desert province of Al- Muthanna

Diggers' quiet but deadly mission

Peter Alford, Tokyo
February 23, 2005

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12343144%255E2703,00.html

THE desert province of Al- Muthanna has been Iraq's smallest and least troublesome since the occupation - an important consideration in assigning the Japanese contingent, whose armed capability is strictly limited by the national constitution to self-defence.

However, the area is not completely trouble-free and the Dutch contingent which has protected the Japanese Self Defence Forces troops since last February lost a sergeant to a grenade attack in May and another in August during a skirmish with insurgents.
A local security policeman was killed in a post-election attack on a police station at Samawah, the provincial capital on February 2.

The Japanese, who currently have about 550 SDF troops rebuilding schools, roads and water facilities, have not suffered any casualties though their camp at Samawah has been targeted about 10 times.
In the most potentially serious incident a rocket propelled grenade landed in the middle of the camp but failed to explode.

Coalition intelligence has identified no significant organised insurgency and most of the trouble around Samawah seems to stem from supporters of fractious Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has a strong local following.

In January four Saudi Arabian militants were captured after crossing the border.
The province which stretches from the Euphrates to Iraq's southeast border with Saudi Arabia has about 350,000 people, overwhelmingly Shias.

Al Muthanna contains part of the Marsh Arab territory brutally oppressed by Saddam Hussein's Baathists and parts of the province joined the revolt against Baghdad after Gulf War I.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi waited for a United Nations mandate before sending troops to al-Muthanna's capital, Samawah, 12 months ago, but was responding to strong representations from his friend George W. Bush.

In September, as the coalition was undermined by the withdrawal of several contigents, Mr Koizumi reassured Mr Bush that Japan would renew its Iraq commitment for another year in December. This he delivered, though the Iraq excursion no longer enjoys majority support. About 55 per cent of those polled by the Kyodo news agency in late January wanted the SDF to withdraw along with the Dutch troops.

The first company of Dutch troops left at the weekend and the withdrawal will finish on March 7 with the handover of Camp Smitty at Samawah to the British, who have overall security responsibility in southern Iraq.

Despite the savage murder of a young Japanese backpacker, Shosei Koda, in October by a group led by the Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Mr Koizumi's government seems to have suffered little electoral damage on the Iraq issue.

However, the Government is keenly aware that troop losses in Samawah could badly sour the public mood and Mr Koizumi and his foreign and defence ministers have worked diligently to ensure the SDF contingent gets the best possible security.

Initially Iraq security police said they could provide adequate coverage for the Japanese but that was unacceptable.

In January, Mr Koizumi won a commitment from the British that 600 soldiers would be dedicated to SDF protection and