"We will send people to help in the areas in which Japan can make appropriate contributions," she told reporters.

"It is important that we send people at the early stage of Iraq's reconstruction," she said.

Four or five people from the foreign ministry, related government agencies and the private sector will be sent to the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA), a unit of the US Defense Department, currently based in Kuwait.

They are expected to stay in Iraq for "several months", said a foreign ministry official in charge of Iraqi affairs.

"We will decide exactly which areas they can help, after assessing the situation in Iraq and reviewing our capacity," the official said.

Japan would be able to express its ideas about ways to rebuild Iraq by sending civilians to the country, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda.

"Through the dispatch of civilian personnel -- who will play a significant role in the reconstruction of Iraq -- we want to participate from the early stage of the process. We want our ideas to be expressed," Fukuda said.

Top Japanese diplomats and leaders have said there was nothing legally preventing the dispatch as long as the staff avoided participating in any military operations, which is forbidden under Japan's pacifist constitution.

Two opposition groups, the Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party, however, maintained their opposition to sending Japanese staff to the ORHA, calling the move unconstitutional.

Fukuda responded to the criticism, by arguing there was a clear distinction between civilian and military activities.

"We will be making contributions to the civilian part of it," Fukuda said.

Kawaguchi added Japan would reopen an embassy in Baghdad "as soon as possible." The Japanese embassy in Baghdad has been closed since early March due to a looming US-led military campaign in the area.

SPACE.WIRE