US easy with Japan's Iraq stance

Rumsfeld made clear he understood Koizumi's constraints

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the US is fully "comfortable" with Japan's decision to delay sending troops to Iraq on security grounds.

Mr Rumsfeld was speaking in Tokyo, on a visit to Japan and South Korea.

He said every country should decide for itself how it could contribute to the operation in Iraq.

On Thursday, Japan postponed sending troops after a suicide bombing on an Italian police station in southern Iraq killed 27 people.

During his visit to Japan, Mr Rumsfeld is also set to discuss North Korea's nuclear programme.

Reluctance

This is his first visit to the Far East since he became defence secretary in 2001.

The BBC's Jonathan Head in Tokyo says that when it was being planned Mr Rumsfeld was probably expecting to be given good news about Japan's troop contribution to Iraq.

We are confident that our friends here will make decisions that are appropriate to them Donald Rumsfeld US Defence Secretary

But it has not worked out that way.

The rising casualties in Iraq and an unconvincing election victory for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi last week have made it politically impossible for him to make good on his promise to send up to 1,000 troops, our correspondent says.

The Japanese Government said it was still committed to sending soldiers - but the circumstances were not yet suitable for them to carry out their mainly humanitarian work.

The country's constitution bans its military from engaging in combat, except for self-defence.

Mr Rumsfeld played down the significance of Tokyo's decision.

"We are confident that our friends here will make decisions that are appropriate to them, and that is what we want them to do," he told a news conference on Saturday.

Legal conundrum

South Korea is also showing reluctance to become too involved in Iraq. Washington asked Seoul for 5,000 soldiers on top of the 400 non-combatants it already has in Iraq.

However, President Roh Moo-hyun told ministers there would be a deployment of no more than 3,000.

Rumsfeld will see no Japanese troops in Iraq any time soon

At a meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Shigeru Ishiba, Mr Rumsfeld also discussed the US proposal to offer a security guarantee for North Korea.

He insisted such an offer would in no way undermine the security of allies.

In Japan he is also discussing the thorny issue of the 50,000 US troops stationed in Japan.

The two countries disagree over which legal system should be used to deal with US personnel who are accused of committing crimes.

Japan wants some US troops moved away from the island of Okinawa to take the pressure off the local community, many of whom oppose the US presence.