The Japanese government convened an emergency Cabinet meeting Monday evening and rewrote the basic plan for deployment of its Self-Defense Forces to Iraq.
The emergency meeting came a few hours after the Japanese government was notified on the early handover of power in Iraq earlier on Monday.
Tokyo had anticipated that the transfer would take place on Wednesday, as originally planned, and made preparations accordingly for the deployment of its Self-Defense troops within the U.S.-led multinational force.
During Monday's meeting, the government moved up by two days the date when the troops are to assume their new status as part of the multinational force in the country.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hoseda said there would be no legal problem with the deployment of the Self-Defense troops to Iraq and that the troops will continue to engage in non-combat efforts within the multinational force.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is to send a related government decree to Iraq's interim government by the end of the day.