About 55 percent of respondents to a Kyodo News poll said Japan should pull its troops from Iraq by March, the news agency reported. The telephone survey of 1,491 households showed 34 percent saying the Self-Defense Forces should withdraw as soon as Iraq holds parliamentary elections next week. Twenty-one percent said the SDF should pull out along with Dutch troops engaged in security operations who are scheduled to leave Iraq by March 15. The survey shows that the Japanese public is increasingly concerned about the security threats in Iraq as U.S. troops are targeted by militants. There are also worries over attacks on the camp of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force in southern Iraq. The survey said 26 percent believe the SDF should withdraw on Dec. 14, the expiration date for their current Iraq aid mission. Eleven percent called for the withdrawal of the troops six months after December's renewal of the mission. Those who supported the SDF's deployment in Iraq stood at 38 percent, while 56 percent expressed opposition. © Copyright 2005 by United Press International

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