Japanese lawmakers wrangled yesterday over a controversial proposal to send the nation's military to help with reconstruction in Iraq, a mission that has raised concern about its troops getting sucked into combat.

　　Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's conservative administration approved the bill 11 days ago and has extended the current legislative session to hurry it into law.

　　Koizumi promised US President George W. Bush at a US summit last month to make Japan an "initiative-taking country" in the rebuilding of Iraq.

　　The Japanese government has already pledged US million in financial aid for rebuilding Iraq.

　　"The reconstruction of Iraq is an important and urgent tasks for the international community," Koizumi told lawmakers after the bill was introduced for deliberation in Japan's lower house of Parliament. "This bill is necessary for our country to make an appropriate contribution."

　　But it has come under increasing fire from Koizumi's political opponents as some of the arguments used by the US-led "coalition of the willing" to justify the war have unraveled. Even members of his conservative ruling party have complained that his administration is moving too quickly, given the dangers involved.

　　"This bill would send the Self-Defense Force to support a military occupation following a war with no legality or justification in international law," said Hideo Kijima, a lawmaker with the Japanese Communist Party. "A war begun illegally is not justified by victory."

　　Under Koizumi's leadership, the government passed a law in 2001 that allowed Japan's navy to provide logistical support for the US-led war in Afghanistan. This time policy-makers are planning to authorize ground troops to carry out similar noncombat missions in Iraq, such as transporting materiel for US-led peacekeepers, and to participate in reconstruction and humanitarian projects.