Japan survey team leaves for S. Sudan to mull GSDF troops dispatch

TOKYO, Sept. 24 Kyodo - A Japanese survey team left for South Sudan on Saturday to study a possible dispatch of Ground Self-Defense Force members to the new country to take part in U.N. peacekeeping operations there, government officials said Saturday.
The survey team, comprising 30 officials from the Foreign and Defense ministries, the Cabinet Office's International Peace Cooperation Headquarters, and GSDF members will gather information during a weeklong stay about local needs, the public security situation and channels for food and fuel supplies, according to the officials.
After the team returns home, Japan is expected to decide whether to dispatch troops to South Sudan based on the peacekeeping operations cooperation law.
The move comes just after Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on Wednesday that Japan is eager to contribute to nation-building efforts in South Sudan and is considering whether to dispatch GSDF engineers there in response to a U.N. request.
Following Noda's meeting with Ban, Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa issued an order in Tokyo on Thursday for the GSDF to prepare send the survey team.